Tansy's Titan: Cosmos' Gateway Book 3 (21 page)

Cosmos either,
she thought as her mind instinctively reached out for Mak.

I am here if you need me, je talli,
Mak’s soft words flowed through her mind.

I know, I know,
Tansy responded making sure she didn’t roll her eyes in exasperation.

It had taken her most of the afternoon to convince him to let her go. She had never met such a stubborn, hard-headed, arrogant…

Wonderful mate,
he said finishing off her thought.

Whatever,
she sighed as she took a sip of the bubbly drink in her hand.

I will be here if you need me,
he repeated before she felt him pull back until he was just a shadow in her mind.

Tansy’s eyes paused on Natasha who was charming the ambassador from Norway before she let them continue their sweep. No one would have noticed the slight tightening of her hand around her glass. It was the only outward sign she gave that she had finally found her target… Craig Knapp, Senior Director for the Collaborative Partnership against Terrorism, or CPAT as the group Tansy belonged to was called. He was talking to the wife of the German Ambassador and a well-known singer from a popular country group.

She smiled at the waiter as she set her glass down on the tray and walked over to where they were talking. She knew Craig wouldn’t recognize her right away in the get-up she was wearing. She had dark brown hair piled into an elegant French twist with decorative silver beads threaded through it. She wore more makeup and brown contact lens. Her dress was an exclusive Zuhair Murad Paris design. The gold, evening gown had a deep vee going all the way down to her belly button and no back except for the delicate gold chains draping down the slender curve of her spine. The wide semi-sheer sleeves allowed her to hide some well-placed accessories. Her feet were encased in delicate, four-inch gold strappy heels.

“Buonasera,” Tansy greeted the small group in a husky Italian. “The ambassador outdid himself as usual, sì?”

“Yes, he and his wife always do such a wonderful job and for such an important cause,” the German ambassador’s wife agreed.

Tansy smiled charmingly and turned to the singer complimenting her on her recent Country Music Award. The next ten minutes were given to relaxing the small group. Tansy gave Craig undivided attention whenever he said anything, leaning into him, and giving all the signs she was hanging onto his every word. The looks he was giving her in return show her he was more than happy to have that attention. When she would turn slightly to one of the women, she noted the flash of irritation that crossed his face briefly. She knew she had him when he moved in closer to her and placed his hand on the small of her back. She leaned back into his hand to let him know she was aware of him.

Move away from him now,
the deep voice of one angry alien male echoed loudly through her mind.

Tansy smiled at the ambassador’s wife as she fought the desire to roll her eyes at the demand. She turned her head just enough to catch a glimpse of Helene’s smiling face. The chick glasses she was wearing had a camera embedded in them. Mak was watching everything she was doing from the command center they had set up in a plumbing van a block over. Her eyes moved to Natasha who was charming the Director of CPAT. From all of the information Tansy had gathered to date, Brad Taylor appeared to be on the up-and-up. Nothing showed that he was aware of what his Under Director was doing. Her eyes moved to several other men who worked in CPAT. Three of them were involved and would be falling with their boss. Two of the other men were low-end operators, programmers, paper-pushers, nothing to worry about from what RITA had gathered.

“Yes, I would love to get a breath of fresh air,” Tansy said with the slight accent she had perfected during the three months she spent in Italy during one of her assignments two years before. “It has been a pleasure talking with you,” she bowed her head graciously to the other two women who continued to talk about the possible upcoming tour the singer was doing in Germany.

“You are breathtaking,” Craig murmured close to Tansy’s ear as he let his hand dip from the skin on her back to the swell of her ass.

Tansy forced her body to remain relaxed even as he squeezed his hand. She dipped her head down to keep the look in them from being seen. She glanced up just in time to see Helene looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Helene adjusted the glasses and glanced to where Craig’s hand was before she moved her gaze back up to Tansy’s face with a smirk.

The loud growl that exploded through her head caused her to flinch. Tansy smiled apologetically. She leaned into Craig forcing her body not to shudder, everything in her screamed for her to pull away from him. She had never felt such an overwhelming need to get away from another human being before.

Tansy, you have to move away from him,
Mak’s voice said coldly in her mind.
I will not be able to tolerate another male putting his hands on you. This was not part of the plan.

Actually, it was. It was just the part of the plan I kind-of forgot on purpose to tell you about,
Tansy replied.

Tansy shivered as Mak’s cold rage flowed through her. She would never be able to carry this through convincingly if he kept growling, snarling and threatening her. There was only one thing she could do and she knew he was going to be royally pissed at her… she had to completely shut him out like he did to her back on the farm in Russia.

Tansy smiled seductively at Craig as he drew her closer to his body. She rubbed against him slightly as he asked the attendant for her fur coat. She gave a breathless giggle as he brushed a kiss along her neck as he draped her coat over her shoulders.

“Tonight you are all mine, my gorgeous little beauty,” Craig murmured in her ear.

Tansy turned her dark brown eyes to his, a small, tantalizing smile curving her plump, red lips. “Oh, yes,” she breathed out.

*.*.*

Mak burst out of the van with a snarl. He was going to wring his mate’s scrawny little neck. He never should have let her go. He should have known it was too easy. Her agreeing to have Natasha and Helene nearby should have been his first clue she was up to something. Her agreement to let them monitor what was going on from a van a block away was the second. Her agreeing to let anyone else be involved was a glaring third. How he could have forgotten her insistence that she worked alone he would never know, or make the mistake of ever forgetting again.

He glanced wildly around trying to determine which way to go. He had been in the back of the van with Rico and two other men so it took a moment for him to orient himself. He reached out to Tansy again only to encounter a wall higher than the mountains on his home world of Baade. He snarled turning in a circle. Frustrated, he reached for the communication device Cosmos gave him.

“Merrick, Lan, Brock, my mate has gone off with the human bastard,” Mak snarled out fiercely. “Do you have her in sight?”

Cosmos voice came over the link. “She’s getting into a limo with Knapp. I’ll track her. Dam
n
it, Mak! I thought you talked to her!” Cosmos bit out furiously sounding slightly out of breath.

“I did! That does not mean she listens to me,” Mak snapped back. “Where are you?”

“I’m coming along the sidewalk on the south side,” Cosmos said hurriedly.

“Shit!” Rico’s voice exploded over their ear pieces.

“What is it now?” Mak said as he ran down the alley and turned the corner almost running into Cosmos as he broke into a run.

“Natasha and Helene are in trouble! I just caught a glimpse of a guy grabbing Helene and shoving her out through the kitchens. Another has Natasha,” Rico cursed under his breath. “We’ve been made. Fall back and regroup! Mike, get us the fuck out of here!”

Mak heard the sounds of soft thumps of metal being hit followed by the sounds of wheels squealing from the direction he had just come. He turned to go back but was knocked sideways by Cosmos who tackled him just as several small bits of concrete from the wall burst where his head had been. Mak rolled, pushing Cosmos off of him. His eyes narrowed on the direction the firing had come from. In a swift move, he drew one of his sharp small knives and threw it as hard as he could. A gasp, followed by a gurgling sound came from the direction.

Mak rolled to his feet ignoring Cosmos and strode rapidly over to the frozen figure. A man dressed in a suit and overcoat stood impaled against the wall. Mak cursed when he saw he had struck the man through the heart. The knife went through him into the brick building. He grabbed the handle and yanked it free, wiping the blood on the man’s coat as he fell.

“Where is my mate?” Mak snarled softly to Cosmos as he came up behind him.

“I have RITA tracking her,” Cosmos said paling as he looked down at the bloody bo
dy. “Rico has met up with Team One
. T
eam Two
is
tracking Natasha and Helene. Lan and Brock are with them. Merrick was chasing down another guy who was coming up on us from the west,” Cosmos said pulling out a small device.

“The limo isn’t heading for Knapp’s place. It looks like it is heading toward the Navy Yard. I have a couple of my guys on their tail. We are headed your way and will meet up with you on the other side of
Capital Street
. Move your asses,” Rico barked out.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cosmos said.

“I am going to kill that bastard and anyone who is with him if he harms one hair on my mate,” Mak said coldly.

“I’ll cover your back while you do it,” Cosmos said quietly breaking into a fast jog.

Chapter 18

Tansy realized the moment she stepped into the limo she was in trouble. She recognized the scarred face of the man sitting across from where she was pushed none too gently. She turned her head just enough to shield the dismay in her eyes before he saw it. She had met up with the son-of-a-bitch twice before. Once when she first joined CPAT and another time when she came across him on assignment. He had gone off the deep end, killing almost a dozen innocents. He had been terminated from the program and had supposedly been killed while on a mercenary assignment in the Philippines.

“How’s it going, Tansy? Beautiful as ever,” Drew grinned wickedly. “I have to say, though, I like the red hair and green eyes better than the brown on brown.”

Tansy didn’t even bother with playing games with the man sitting across from her. “I have to admit I like you better dead instead of alive. By the way, how was the Philippines?” Tansy asked crossing her legs. “From the way your face looks, I’d say it must have been a blast,” she added with a nasty grin.

She enjoyed the flash of anger that crossed his face. He always did like being a pretty boy and there was no way anyone would ever call him that again. The right side of his face was puckered and ridges of scar-tissue crisscrossed it from his brow to his chin. The look in his blue eyes promised she would regret that little pun.

“You think this looks good wait until I get done with you,” Drew said with a tight smile pulling his mouth to one side. “I’ll make sure you live a little longer than your boyfriend did. What was his name… oh yeah, Branson. Now I remember. I wish you could have heard him screaming as I ran my knife through him. Oh yeah,” he gave an ugly laugh. “You couldn’t hear him because I cut his tongue out.”

Tansy felt like her blood was freezing as she listened to Drew talk. “You’re a worthless piece of shit. I’m going to enjoy killing you,” she hissed out jerking toward him with her hands curled into claws.

Craig grabbed her arm in a bruising hold and jerked her back into her seat. “You don’t know how much it disappointed me when Drew told me who you were. I never would have seen through your little dress up but he did almost immediately. What gave her away, Drew?” Craig asked as he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply before releasing it with a deep sigh. “It really doesn’t matter, of course, but I’m curious. I still plan on enjoying your beauty before I let Drew have his fun.”

Tansy jerked away from Craig’s touch settling back into her seat. “Yes, Scarface, what gave me away?”

Drew’s eyes narrowed but he ignored her little dig. “No one has a body like you do, Tansy. Those big, plump breasts, tiny waist, perfect rounded ass made for fucking, and lips created just to make a man come between them,” Drew said with a dark, hot gaze.

Tansy reached up and carefully undid the dark brown wig she was wearing palming the tiny, silver balls and clips in her hand. She plucked the pins out of her own rich red hair and let it cascade down her back. Shaking her head, she let the heavy length hide the fact she was pocketing her stash in a small slit in her gown.

She smiled coolly at Drew. “You forgot to mention my hair. Men love my hair,” she breathed out in a husky voice known to cause a man to harden just from the sound. “And you, Two-face, will never know what it is like to have my lips wrapped around you,” she finished coldly.

“You fucking bitch,” Drew said raising his hand to back-hand her.

“Stop!” Craig’s sharp tone sounded loud in the quiet of the limo. “You can have her after I am done with her. I don’t care what you do to her then but I want her before you start marking her up.”

Tansy’s eyes narrowed into a deadly glare at Craig Knapp. “You know I’ll kill you before you can do anything? What is in it for you? Why would you betray your country?” She asked coolly.