Chapter Ten
She was pissed enough to spin bullets. Once again, a man presuming the little lady couldn’t take care of herself. As long as they didn’t get in her way, all was fine. It was when men interfered that shit hit the fan.
He did ask her opinion on how to use the TV reporter, but he’d also used her first name. She let it slide. Wasn’t sure why. She doubted he even realized he’d said it. He was a very personable guy. He seemed kind, like he’d never hit anyone, but you never knew a person until the worst happened. Then the man behind the curtain revealed himself.
And how dare he call her ass sweet. He was being sexist and she shouldn’t put up with that crap. But it was flattering he noticed—anyone else, no—but he was okay.
She shook her head. What the hell was wrong with her? Never was she fine with men being overbearing and controlling. What was it about this one man that was turning her world upside down? Maybe if she worked with him instead of against him so much, they could compromise and get through this alive. But he needed to do the same, dammit. This wasn’t a one-way street.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tumbel put his arm out to stop her from approaching the door. Like she was going to walk out without checking first. When he put his hand on knob, she jerked him back.
“What the hell are you doing?” she whispered-yelled, slapping him on the side. “Stick your head out there and it’ll get shot off.”
He rested fists on his hips. “I may be able to see in the dark, but my X-ray vision is in the shop.”
She huffed. “I don’t expect you to see through doors, dumbass.” God, he was impossible. She pulled her phone out and stuck it in his face. “Technology.” She opened the camera app. “Help me push the door open enough to stick my phone out. Like we did on the ceiling.”
Slowly, quietly, he pushed the door barely open. She pushed her phone out then glanced at the screen. The guy standing at the elevators earlier was no longer there. The reception desk was vacant also. “It’s clear. Let’s go.” Pushing the door farther open, she slid out, keeping her back to the wall the few steps to the corner leading to the security hall.
Safely around the corner, she let out a breath. It’d been a while since she’d seen any real action and it appeared she was getting soft. Later, she’d buckle down and chew on some nails. After a few seconds without Josh coming around the corner, she backtracked and peeked into the lobby. Josh stood staring at the front like the rest of the guys who were glued to the entrance glass.
Outside on the sidewalk, a tall, slender woman with long hair had taken her suit jacket off and was stretching, doing a fabulous job of showing off her boobs. Big ones at that, of course. She unbuttoned the top of her blouse and fanned herself as if hot. Candy knew for a fact the nighttime temp was around seventy degrees.
The woman then slowly bent toward the glass, her top gaping, to pick up something. That was enough. Candy grabbed Josh’s ear and dragged him around the corner. She said, “Keep it in your pants, big boy. That’s our distraction, which seems to be doing a perfect job.”
He batted her hand away and followed. “Sorry, I was just making sure the men were watching,” he retorted.
“Don’t worry. Their eyeballs were as glued to the door as yours were.” The thought almost made her laugh. Men were so easy sometimes. A little sex and a little beer and they were in heaven. Except when they were mean drunks. Her father had been one of those.
She waved at the camera, realizing she’d forgotten to call Dotson to let him know they were coming down. She gave a thumbs-up and pointed to the guy behind her. Her instructions were to not open the door unless she was alone. And Dotson wouldn’t; he was an excellent soldier. If she didn’t give the right signal, he would have his gun at the ready and fire immediately.
Candy punched in the passcode and the magnetic lock disengaged. When she opened the door, Dotson was already standing, saluting. She pulled Tumbel inside and quietly closed the door. Returning the salute, she introduced Tumbel to Dotson then went to the board with all the video screens.
The woman outside, Claire—she remembered the name, continued her routine. The woman was bent over, running her fingers over from her ankle over her calf muscle. And interestingly enough, two of the Russians were arguing close to the front. She heard the voices, but it didn’t matter as she didn’t know the damn language. She needed Day. But that wasn’t happening. He was in her office waiting on some signal from Tumbel. She had no idea what that exchange of words between Tumbel and his men meant. He didn’t tell them to go anywhere, so . . .
Tumbel leaned toward her, but didn’t touch her. She was sorta hoping he might. Dammit, no she wasn’t. No one touched her. Maybe she could allow—No!
“Hey,” Tumbel whispered.
“What!” she said louder than she intended. Not that they could be heard outside this room. It was soundproofed as well as blocked to all radio emissions, in or out. He frowned at her anyway. She had pulled herself together to fall apart after five seconds of being close to him. Maybe she needed a week’s vacation—with the men from Chippendales.
God, great time for her to think about that silliness. Here was Tumbel making her all kinds of distracted and her body doing insane things just from being near him. She should really reconsider her usual stance on men. Tumbel was proving to be a nice guy so far. Hard-headed and gorgeous, but nice. Not one of those jerks that was full of himself.
“Sorry,” she said. He motioned her to the side. She accommodated his wish and followed.
“I, uh, I need to do something and it would be best if you and your boy, here, did not see it,” he said.
“What?” she asked. Candy couldn’t fathom what was going through his head. “What are you going to do? Steal the computer? And where do you think he and I could go?” What could he possibly do in there that she couldn’t see?
She held her hands up for Tumbel to just be quiet for a moment, then turned to Dotson. “I need you to go through the tunnels and cross under Peters Avenue to the metro exit then double back to the TV van out front.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dotson replied. “Any reason I shouldn’t use the tunnel exit here on the corner?”
She picked up his firearm and handed it to him to holster. “They may have men in the tunnel disguised as normal civilians. We don’t know. You being in military garb makes you a target. The farther you get from here, the less likely you are to come across anyone.”
“What are my orders after getting to the TV crew?”
She needed a second to reason out the best tactical strategy. “We need a man on the outside to communicate with Dresden’s men and the police when they show up.”
Josh interjected, “I thought we didn’t want police.”
“We don’t,” she said, “but I doubt there’s any way around it. Maybe they can serve as an added distraction while we figure out a solution.” She turned back to her guard. “Tell Dresden and the police we are working on the inside and to stand by. Be ready for anything. But don’t initiate.” She pushed him toward the wall.
“Yes, ma’am.” He pulled up the hidden panel in the floor that led to the narrow stairwell going to a thick metal door to the tunnel. From there, she hoped he had a clear path away from any ambush.
Now she had to figure out what to do with Tumbel. What did he need to do that she couldn’t see?