Save Me If You Can (13 page)

Naomi, who was seated beside Inez, rolled her eyes at the older agent and turned to Savi. “We have Terry King’s location now… kind of. After Kendall and Renata hacked his son’s phone, he talked to his parents. That call was a local call, bounced off a cell tower less than 50 miles from we are right now. That’s a possible location for where he could be holding Wolfe and my mother.”

Savi lifted an eyebrow. “We know for sure they’re alive?”

“We do now,” Renata chimed in. “In the phone call to the mother, there’s background noise. It was hell to amplify it, but we’re pretty sure we can hear King talking about a “special visitor” and her “bitch ass husband”. We’re pretty sure he’s referring to Damien and Noelle.”

“Okay…” Savi nodded, then looked around at the rest of the team. “So what’s the plan?”

Inez pushed out a sigh. “
That’s
where it gets sticky. They’re about to take off for Dubai, in a week. So we need to move on this quickly. We know that TJ and Terry are meeting for dinner at this upscale place downtown, so it would be an ideal time to get someone in to get a tracker on
King
.”

“So what’s the problem?”

A collective sigh seemed to go around the room, and Savi put her hands up in confusion.

“All of our covers are blown,” Naomi said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table. “King knows who I am, so we have to assume he’s looked into Marcus, because he and I were publicly “dating” as part of our cover. Inez went in as an “assistant” for him, and had to fight her way out of there. TJ has seen Kendall, so that might look suspicious. And I mean… Renata is his daughter. Quentin punched him. We are… officially out of people.”

Savi scoffed. “Okay, so use
me
. Nobody knows who I am. I can get you what you need.”

“You’ve been out of the agency how long, again?”

“Long enough to be well rested and ready for action.
Sir
,” she added sarcastically, in response to the snippy tone of Agent Barnes’ question. Ignoring the older agents, she looked to Inez, Naomi, Marcus, Kendall, Quentin, and Renata, the people she’d been interacting with for the last few months, and would actually be the deciding factor. “I can do this for you.
Use
me.”

Agent Barnes sucked his teeth. “Yeah, and what’s in it for you?”

“Peace,” Savi snapped. “And happiness. And someone I’ve been waiting for a long time.” She turned back to the other agents. “So… what do you say?”

Inez smiled. “You know what I say, chiquita. Guys, listen. If any of you are afraid of
me
, trust me, you should be twice as scared of Savi. Everything I know, I learned from her. If she’s offering, I think we should take advantage.”

Naomi shrugged. “I’m down. I don’t care how we get the information, I just want to know where Terry King is. I want his head, then I want Wolfe’s, and then I want Noelle’s. Anybody that gets me closer to that is an ally as far as I’m concerned.”

One by one, the other team members offered their agreement, and Agent Barnes shook his head. “Whatever,” he scoffed. “I’m late for a meeting.”

Ignoring his attitude as he stomped out, Savi turned back to Inez, taking her by the hands. “Thank you for believing in me, little sister.”

“You’ve never let me down. I don’t think you’ll start now.”

Inez offered her another smile, and then a seat at the table to talk strategy. Savi sat straight up, listening intently, and offering her input as they formed the plan that – she hoped – would get her several steps closer to her long-awaited happily ever after.

Ten.

His eyes were on her.

It didn’t take very long at all, but then again, Savi hadn’t expected it to.

Before she walked into
Butter
, the upscale restaurant where Terry King was meeting his son, she already knew exactly where they were seated, and therefore, where to place herself at the bar. Many eyes followed her from the front door to the barstool, stuck shamelessly to the ample curves of her hips and breasts in the white bandage dress she wore. She wasn’t quite as fit as she’d been back in the agency, but knew she still looked damned good, and let that confidence swim in the air around her.

She slid onto the barstool and ordered herself a Manhattan. She’d felt him watching her from the moment she hit the door, felt his distraction from the conversation with his son. They hadn’t been able to get sound from their table – too unpredictable on where they’d be seated, but a public conversation with his teenaged son wasn’t very likely to be of consequence.

Not for their goals, at least.

The bartender passed Savi her drink and she raised it to her red-painted lips for a slow sip. Afterwards, she placed her glass carefully back down on the polished wood of the bar, then rested her elbows on the bar, entwined her fingers, and rested her chin on her hands as she looked around.

She looked to her left first, for exactly one minute and twenty-two seconds, not focusing on any one thing, enough time that she appeared to be engaged in casual observation of her surroundings. Only then did she look to her right, where Terry and TJ were, in a slow sweep of that side of the restaurant.

He was already looking at her, but she didn’t flinch.

She actually had to keep herself from smiling, because men like Terry were so,
so
predictable. She’d studied the dossiers, knew these horrible men front and back now, but honestly? They were familiar men, just with new names.

If her target was a Damien Wolfe type, she’d be a little nervous. Those types were cool, and calculated… often hard to read. Even in looking at the things he’d done, as awful as they were, they held a certain twisted logic. Wolfe didn’t act on emotion, he acted on his own convoluted sense of justice. He was unpredictable.

Terry King was… not.

Not a stupid man by any means, but he was susceptible to certain things that Wolfe was not. A pretty face, supple thighs, and a short dress, for example. Adding to that was his apparent aversion to thinking things through before he acted, and this would be one of the easier jobs Savi’d had to do.

Distract him.

That was her mission.

Distract him long enough that, now that they had his phone number, and relative position because of the phone call with his son, they could do enough calculations to figure out where the house was. He’d placed a phone call just before he left to meet TJ, which had greatly helped, but they still needed him gone long enough to get a person in to do a brief search. Figure out what – or who – was in the house or not, and either call in the cavalry, or get access to his computer.

Simple enough.

Savi purposely let her eyes pass over him, like she hadn’t seen him first. She scanned the room just a tiny bit further, then let her gaze skip back toward him, as if she were just realizing that he was watching her. And
then
she allowed their eyes to meet.

At least
, she thought
, he’s a truly handsome man
, which made the seduction a little easier. Smooth dark skin, salt and pepper hair, chiseled features, and… something…else. Something familiar…

But that made sense, right? He was Renata’s father. And as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she saw the similarities in their features, and her brain accepted the familiarity.

With that little glitch behind her, she hiked up an eyebrow, then cut her eyes away from Terry. She turned back to her drink, finishing it slowly, occasionally peeking into her purse at her phone. A chime played in her ear, letting her know that they’d found his house.

She’d been there for twenty minutes, and had just ordered a fresh drink when TJ stood, with Terry following, and headed for the exit. They walked right past her, and Savi could imagine that on the other end of the restaurant’s camera feed, the team was watching, and thinking that their plan was a bust, but Savi knew better. Several long moments passed, and she casually sipped her second Manhattan. A few more moments passed, and her phone rang. She peeked at it, recognized the number, and ignored the call, fighting the urge to send a scolding glare at the camera.

And then, Terry King sat down at the bar beside her.

“Don’t tell me a beautiful woman like yourself got stood up,” he said, then ordered himself a Jack and Coke before he looked to Savi, openly sweeping her with an interested gaze.

Savi shook her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Um… no. Not exactly.”

“Well what does that mean?” He turned his body toward her, with his knee barely an inch away from touching hers.

“Well… he’s late. Or,
was
late, so I told him not to bother.”

Terry smiled, showing off excellent dental work and care. “Ah, so you’re one of those?”

“One of… what?”

“A woman not easily impressed by mediocre efforts.”

Another low, but distinct chime played in her ear.

They were in the house.

Savi let out a soft peal of laughter as she dropped her gaze, shaking her head again before she returned her eyes to his. “No. Not at all impressed unless I’m a clear priority. And even that… is bare minimum.”

Terry nodded, then looked away for a moment to accept his drink. “Smart woman.”

“I like to think so.”

He smirked, and Savi gave him a similar smile back, returning the gesture when he raised his drink in the air. “To exceptional efforts.”

Savi gently tapped his glass with hers. “I will absolutely drink to that.”

“So tell me your name, beautiful.”

“Sarai.” A name similar enough to her own that she could respond to it without a second thought.

“A biblical name, huh?”

Savi shrugged, then finished her drink. “My parents, they… tried to raise a good Christian girl, but… I was never very good at sticking to the rules. Little bit of a rebel.”

“Ah, a bad girl?”

Internally, Savi rolled her eyes. Externally, she pulled her lip between her teeth, inclining her body just slightly toward his. “With incentive… yes.” She winked at him, then turned toward the bartender, ordering a cosmo this time, which she had no intentions of even tasting, let alone drinking. “What about you? What’s your name?”

She caught his hesitation for a second before she gave the slightest shrug, like he knew, but didn’t care that giving his real name may not be a good idea. “Terry King.”

“Oh wow,” Savi replied, shaking her head. “Full name, huh?”

Terry shrugged. “Full name.”

“King… it’s a strong name. Powerful. You think you live up to it?”

He scoffed, taking a long swing of his jack and coke. “I
know
I do. And I have power and resources to back up that claim. Ask about me if you’re so inclined.”

“I’m not.” Savi smiled, then pulled cash from her purse to pay for her drink. “Have a good night, Terry King.”

She climbed down from her seat at the bar, and he got out of his seat too, stepping smoothly in front of her to block her path. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked, placing his hands at her bare shoulders.

“Not at all. It’s just late. I’m tired, and I’ve had enough to drink, so… I’ll be moving along.”

“But we weren’t finished with our conversation.”

Savi lifted an eyebrow. “We weren’t?”

She’d expected this, honestly, that he’d be interested enough to be a little clingy. What she
hadn’t
expected was actually having to engage him this long, which increased the likelihood that she’d arouse something unintended – suspicion. She counted at least two members of his security team in her immediate sight, and there were undoubtedly others outside of her view. If this went ugly, it would be very ugly.

But she hadn’t heard that third chime yet. And she knew that this, making him work for her, would hold his interest. Would hold him
here
.

“What more could we possibly have to talk about, Terry King? I probably shouldn’t even be showing my face around you… aren’t you a wanted man?”

Terry’s eyes went wide, and his eyebrows shot to somewhere near his hairline. “How…?”

“You said it yourself… smart woman. I
do
pay attention to the news. At least enough to know that there are probably dozens of paparazzi waiting outside of the place to get a shot of you. You’re infamous.”

His shoulders sagged in palpable relief. “That’s what you mean by wanted.”

“What else would I mean?” Savi lifted an eyebrow. “Wait…” – she eased back – “It said on the news that you had avoided charges… that
is
true, right? You’re not on the lam, are you?”

Terry chuckled. “No… not at all. That whole mess is just an attempt to take me down with lies. None of it is even true. But,” – he urged her back toward her seat – “Enough about that. Let’s… talk about the necessary incentives to being a “bad girl.”

Still no signal to let me know I can leave… shit.

“Okay.” Savi gave him the most syrupy, seductive smile she could manage. “Lets.”

&

“
Naomi! What the fuck are you doin’, cher?! You know you—”

–
aren’t supposed to be out of the truck, yeah, yeah, whatever.

Naomi shut off her earbud, quieting Quentin’s voice in her ear as she crept around a darkened corner in Terry King’s house.
Why
they’d trusted her to ride along, but not get in the armored truck, she had no idea. Not cleared for sex, not cleared for strenuous work, whatever. She didn’t care about any of that. If they thought she was going to simply wait around for shit to happen… they were mistaken.

All of them.

She was, after all, the thief here. Savi was off keeping King busy, Kendall and Inez were her backup there at the restaurant. Marcus was chosen to go inside the house. He had back up, sure. A shitload of it. Quentin and Renata were serving technical assistance, keeping the security systems down and suppressing the cameras from recording anything local. Three other armored trucks, full of agents, were ready and waiting on Marcus’s signal that they were needed. Naomi had begged and begged just to come on the trip, and not be confined to the house. Marcus’s agreement had been reluctant, and hard-won, through a lot of begging and promising to stay in the truck.

Naomi would deal with the broken promise later.

For now, she peeked into another empty room. The house was too quiet, too empty, for this to be considered a success. King’s family was supposed to be there, and maybe Wolfe too. So where was the security, where was the house staff, where was… everybody? Maybe they’d missed something, maybe the house was clear already, maybe… it was a trap?

Naomi shook her head. This whole scene was eerily familiar, reminding her of when she’d broken into Victor Lucas’s house. That night had rapidly gone all wrong, with her ending up beaten and tied to a chair. Another night where she’d been reckless in action, just like now. She knew better, she really did, but still… instead of sneaking back out, going to wait where she was supposed to… she peeked into another door.

It was a bedroom this time, and as soon as the door swung open with a barely audible creak, Naomi heard the faint breathing pattern of sleep. Her heart slammed to the front of her chest as she slid into the darkened room.

The blinds were open, and moonlight streamed through the sheer curtains, illuminating the bed. The rest of the room was bathed in silence, nearly pitch black. But the bed… the bed contained life.

But whose?

A peculiar feeling crept up the back of Naomi’s neck, settling like dew over her skin as she eased toward the bed, with her weapon raised. Only one person, one raised lump under the covers was there, and Naomi’s heart rate galloped as the figure shifted, coughed, then turned over. A moment later, sleep overtook them again.

But Naomi had heard it.

In that cough, in the soft sounds of her breath… Naomi already knew, and final steps toward the bed were only confirmation.

Like looking in a mirror.

A lump caught in Naomi’s throat, and tears welled in her eyes as she stared down at Noelle. The first surge of emotion was overwhelming joy, and she dropped to her knees beside the bed, with her weapon hanging uselessly at her side. Her hands slipped away from the gun, leaving it on the floor as she raised her fingers to the edge of the bed. She swallowed hard, fighting back the sob that wanted to break free.

“Mama
,” she said, just barely above a whisper as she reached out to touch her face. Noelle shifted a little, but didn’t respond to Naomi’s fingers as they caressed her face with a feather-light touch, and then moved backward to stroke her hair.