Chapter 9
Walking out of the airport in London, Kat studied the gray skies and drizzling rain and shook her head. “I’ve been in this country once before. It was exactly the same weather. There was such a cold then that it seemed to penetrate the bones with this never-ending dampness. I was at the conference the better part of a whole week. Never got a chance to get out of the hotel. So I saw the weather through the plane or the hotel windows and in the cab ride from the airport to the hotel and back again to the airport. It never changed. The view was always incredibly depressing.”
Badger took her elbow and motioned her toward a taxi.
“Don’t we want to rent a vehicle?”
“No. Erick already has one.”
She slid into the back of the taxi.
Twenty minutes later, with lots of honking and traffic noises, vehicles going every which way, she murmured, “Now this is why I live in a small town.”
He laughed. “Exactly. Unless you happen to love a busy metropolis, London isn’t the place for you.”
“Well, it is if I’m a tourist,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know what exactly we are doing here. And, if the weather ever changes, it might be nice to get out.”
“We will get out a lot,” he promised. “Whether the weather changes or not.”
“I didn’t bring anything for rain,” she said worriedly. “How could I have not brought a raincoat?”
“Not to worry. We’ll make out just fine.”
When the taxi pulled up in front of a large hotel, he helped her out, paid the fare and hooked her arm through his. “Remember, we’re in a relationship. We’re engaged, about to get married in the next few months.” His voice was low, only for her ears. “We’re here on a business trip.”
“What business is it exactly?”
He gave her a sideways glance and a big grin. “Your business.”
She raised an eyebrow, her mind spinning to look for reasons why she would be here. And then she remembered a couple of the profs and speakers who had been at the conference last year. “I was definitely trying to connect with a couple men. They did tell me, whenever I was in town, to contact them. One even has a fantastic lab. I’d really like to see it.” Her voice picked up with enthusiasm. She couldn’t help it. It was her specialty. “If we can fit that in, then I will consider this trip very worthwhile.”
“Where is he?”
She frowned. “I’ll have to check my email. A vet here who does prosthetics. I know it’s not a system that works well for humans yet, but I was thinking that, maybe in your case …”
She felt his sharp glance but didn’t explain. How could she explain that currently prosthetics were held on by suction and proper fit? But then he knew that. The vet, however, was actually putting steel rods into the bones on animals so legs could be clipped on permanently. And, if something broke, then a new leg could be put on through the permanent locking system. She had no idea how that would work for humans, but, because Badger had lost his leg so high up, in a way it would be a much better option for him. But she didn’t think the practice would be approved in the US anytime soon. And finding a doctor to do that kind of surgery would be difficult. Caught up in her musing, she didn’t realize they were already at the reception area, and he was signing the paperwork for their room. Two key cards were handed over, and a bellhop discreetly picked up their luggage, putting it on a cart, and led them toward an elevator.
Upstairs on the fourth floor, the door was opened into a large bedroom with double queen beds. She noted the sleeping arrangement with half a thought, wondering if he’d done that on purpose. In a way she wished there was only one bed. She knew exactly where she wanted this guy. And that was beside her at night, hopefully caught in a passionate embrace.
While he dealt with the bellhop, she walked to the window for a look outside. Traffic streamed below. Other buildings stood everywhere she looked. Another hotel was across the street, with more windows, apartments and hotel rooms staring directly at her. She shook her head but loved the size of the bridges up and down the Thames River.
Hearing the door close behind her, she turned to see Badger walking into the main room. They’d flown overnight, but, with the time change, it was late afternoon already.
He stopped and looked at both beds. “Left or right?”
“The one by the window,” she said quietly. “One room?”
“You won’t be alone at any time until your nightmare is over.”
There was an autocratic tone to his voice. As if prepared for an argument and wanting to head it off first. She didn’t plan to argue. But it was a sign of concern that he had set it up this way. In a quiet tone, she said, “Thank you.”
Surprise lit his gaze.
Just then a knock came at the door. She raised her eyebrows. “Did the bellhop forget something?”
He shook his head. “It’s Erick and Cade.”
He opened the door and let the two men in. They entered with big grins flashing, just in jeans and T-shirts. They looked as comfortable here as they had back home. Her glance went from one to the other and then to a third man who had entered the room.
She studied his face for a moment and realized she’d seen a photograph of him in her medical files. “Talon?”
The man stared at her, his eyes like obsidian, and asked in a low voice, “How do you know my name?”
She crossed her arms and tapped her fingers, thinking about the details of the medical report. She knew he had one prosthetic below his left knee. He had more leg left than most. He also had a plate in his right leg and back injuries she wouldn’t wish on anybody. And then there was his missing arm …
“I’m Kat, prosthetic designer.” She smiled. “And your file crossed my desk. With your photo.”
He raised one eyebrow. “I didn’t know that was included. And?”
“I sent an affirmative back to your doctor.”
At that, the room lightened considerably. He grinned, made his way through the men and shook her hand. “Much obliged, ma’am.” He studied her for a long moment. “You’re not exactly what I was expecting.”
She grinned. “I get that a lot.”
But she could see he was still hesitant. “Yes, I’m a prosthetic engineer. Yes, I’m a doctor. Yes, I can help you. I don’t know how your stumps and the scar tissue are at this point, and whether you’re ready for some of the more developed prototypes, but, as soon as I can get back home again”—she turned to glare at Badger—“you can come to my office and we’ll start the testing.”
He nodded and, in a smooth drawl, said, “Even more reason to keep you alive then.”
She laughed. “In that case, I am glad to have you on board,” she said drily. “But honestly I think the only person in trouble here will be Badger himself. My troubles are at home.”
At that, the men sat to discuss the little information they had gathered. As she listened, she realized they really didn’t know much. They had a name. They had an address. They’d already picked up the money they were paying somebody to give them answers on a directive that had been given and then changed. She listened quietly, standing by the window, watching the four of them. So very similar in many ways and yet so very different. They were all extremely fit. There was an air of quiet confidence but also an urgency about each one, as if they needed to solve this problem before they could move on.
The last thing she wanted was for any of them to get hurt. And yet she could see how she could do so much to make their lives easier. Talon’s left arm was a very simple unit. She knew he had shoulder straps, and the manipulation of his fingers were extremely slow. The articulated joints were old school. She had a much better one at home.
Finally she realized one of the men was speaking to her.
“Kat?”
She took her gaze away from Talon’s arm to look at Badger. “Yes?”
“You ready for dinner?”
She nodded. “Just waiting for you grannies to be done with your gossip.”
Erick laughed. “Doc, I forgot you had such a great sense of humor.”
“Hell, I didn’t even know she had one,” Cade said with a big grin.
“I don’t,” she said in a dry tone. “There’s just something about having been shot at, kidnapped and now hiding away in London while you guys plan your revenge that makes this all seem extremely supersecret spy stuff and way over the top. In other words, humor helps me get through it.”
Badger smiled. “Good. Whatever works. Let’s eat.”
Badger watched as Kat led the way to the lobby. All the men positioned themselves around her, determined to keep her safe. He wasn’t sure who would be a target in England. He was hoping nobody. He doubted her troubles had carried over to this country, but that didn’t mean his troubles weren’t waiting for them here—although a simple meeting or a few questions shouldn’t be an issue, at least he hoped not. But then they were carrying some money. And that always led to problems. Whether he liked it or not, a lot of people would kill for ten thousand pounds.
As they walked out onto the street, his phone rang. He pulled it out to see it was his contact. “Hello?”
“He wants to change the time. He’s getting nervous. He wants the money so he can leave the country.”
“When does he want to meet?”
“Tomorrow morning?”
Badger glanced at his friends. They were studying his face, half listening in on the conversation. “That’s possible. We’re in England now.”
“His first choice was tonight. It’s only four o’clock. Do you want to do it now then? I’d have to get back to him and confirm.”
Badger’s instinct was to say yes. The sooner, the better, but he worried about taking Kat with them. “See if you can make it happen.” He hung up and quickly told the others about the change in schedule.
Kat frowned at him. “Well, I’m not about to get sent back up to my room,” she said. “We can all go and meet this guy and then go out for dinner.”
Badger shook his head. “The informant was extremely clear. I have to go alone.”
She protested. “No. That’s too dangerous.”
Erick spoke up. “There’s a pub around the corner from the address where you’ll meet him. The rest of us can eat and wait for you there.”
“That still doesn’t protect his back,” Kat exclaimed. “We don’t know anything about this guy. He could be waiting with a shotgun.”
Erick looked at her in surprise.
Badger just laughed. “I’m expecting something along that line.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants money from me. He’s hoping that whatever information he has is worth enough that I’ll leave it behind.”
“But that’s the deal, isn’t it?” she asked. “He gives you the information he has, whether it’s good or bad, and you pay the money, whether you’re happy or not.”
“Sure, if he has any information. It could all be a ruse.”
“A ruse for what? Is somebody after you?”
“Not necessarily. But I’m asking questions. If somebody is behind our accident, they will not be happy to hear I’m reopening the investigation.”
Her back stiffened, and she shoved her fists into her pockets.
Mannerisms he was coming to understand told of her stubbornness. She balked at the idea of him going alone, whereas he couldn’t wait for this meeting, as this guy had information he wanted, and he wanted it now. His phone rang again.
“Twenty minutes.” And the phone line went dead.
He checked his watch, pulled up the address on his GPS and said, “We’ll probably take a taxi.”
Erick shook his head. “No. No trails. I’ve got a car. Let’s go.”
They piled into his vehicle and were on the road within seven minutes. Badger knew they’d make it in time, but he’d like to be a few minutes early.
The drive was only seven minutes as well. As they pulled up outside the pub, Erick pointed to the corner building. “He’s in one of the flats up in that building.”
With a hard look at Kat, Badger said, “You stay with Erick and Cade. Sit down, grab a beer, order some dinner. I’ll be back before you know it. Talon will keep watch for me.” Badger took off, walking past the apartment building, scoping it out. When he realized it was clear, he turned back and entered through the front door. There was no panel to call up to say he was here. There was just an open door. That in itself set his back up. But he was in England, in one of the poorer areas. Even if there had been a call-up center, it probably wouldn’t have worked. Instead of taking the elevator, he raced up the stairs.
He was five minutes early, and that was a good thing. He walked down the hall to the right number. He froze. The door was open ever-so-slightly. He put an ear to the door and heard someone moving around inside. He knocked on the door hard. It opened, surprising him. A stranger stared at him nervously.
“Come in, come in.” The stranger stuck his head out in the hall, checking to make sure nobody had followed Badger. “You sure you’re alone?”
Badger walked all the way into the small living room, seeing an old couch with sagging springs, windows with no curtains and the mattress on the floor. It didn’t look like a quick shack up but that the man had lived here for a few years at least. He turned to face him. “Yes. I’m alone.” No lie. Talon was on watch but well out of sight.
Badger studied the stranger—a man in his early forties, a lock of brown hair over his face, a thin lanky frame and skin too sallow to be healthy. The man was trembling, but Badger didn’t think it was from nervousness. Drugs? A disease? He wasn’t sure, but the man looked like he was only a few steps away from death. Badger stared at him straight on. “I believe you have some information for me.”
“Do you have the money?”
Badger pulled out the pack he’d brought with him and opened the top so the man could see inside. Badger didn’t bother asking for his name because, even if he’d been given one, it wouldn’t be the real one. But he memorized the man’s face so he could confirm any information coming from him. “Now what do you know?”
The man’s voice was thin, reedy, but he seemed sure as he spoke. “I was running dispatch that day. You’d all been given your orders, checking out the territory, looking for any of the insurgents who might still be in the hills.” He took a deep breath as if struggling, then shrugged. “I received a call saying that one of the roads was bad. Intel was that antitank IEDs were on that road.”
“And which road was that?”
“The road where three of the vehicles were supposed to go.”
“And who called it in?”
“Corporal Shipley.”
Badger frowned. He didn’t know that name. “Who made the decision to reroute us on the other road?”
He shrugged. “I don’t remember. I passed on the information to my superior, and I received a change of instructions that I sent right out again.”
“And you’re sure you gave him the right road?”
The man nodded. “After the truck was blown up, I went back through the information and confirmed it. We’d been told the road you were on was bad, and your truck needed to take the route I gave you.”
“Just my truck?”
He nodded. “The other two were sent on different routes.”
“Our truck was sent on a specific route. A route that took us over an antitank land mine.”
The man nodded. “The problem is, when we went to double-check the information, we couldn’t find a Corporal Shipley.”
Inside Badger didn’t know if he should scream for joy or punch out this asshole. It was what he’d suspected. Somebody had fed them bogus information. But somehow that information had to have been cleared. And it was this guy who did it.
“How hard did you look?” Badger’s voice was hard, steely.
The other man seemed to shrink inside himself. Yet, at the same time, it was as if something fell off his shoulders.
“Did you get paid for passing on false intel?”
The man backed away, shaking his head. “No, no. I didn’t.”
But, for the first time, his tone made Badger doubt him. Badger studied him for a long moment. “I don’t believe you. You knew the information was bad, but you sent it anyway.”
The other man winced and sagged into the closest seat. The couch made a groaning sound as it took his weight. “I didn’t know it was bad, honest. But what I didn’t do was I didn’t check Corporal Shipley’s tag. I should have checked to make sure the information was good. And later, when I did, I realized there was no Corporal Shipley.”
“Shit.”
The informant nodded. “How do you think I’ve felt these last two years? It’s because of me that you got blown up.” He looked at Badger, his eyes red-rimmed, drug induced, hazy. “I’m so sorry.”
What the hell was Badger supposed to say to that? Seven men badly injured, their careers completely wiped out and Mouse, … poor Mouse. He stared at the man with contempt. “Was anything ever done to follow-up?”
The informant shook his head. “No, because I had already passed it on as solid intel. After the incident, my superiors assumed I had either received bad intel, mixed up the routes, or you just hit an antitank land mine that nobody knew about.”
In the eyes of the military, theirs was just one more accident in a long string of accidents. There was no way to tell if the intel was bad or good—except there was no Corporal Shipley in the navy. He let his breath out slowly. “Were there any background noises? Other voices?”
The informant looked up and nodded. “Yes. But I couldn’t hear very much. Voices in the background. Honestly it sounded like a truck full of guys.”
“Any chance you made a mistake about the information?”
He shook his head. “No, it was taped.”
Badger’s interest piqued. “Do you have a copy of that tape?”
The man stared at him and then slowly nodded. “I do. I erased it at the base when I realized what had happened. It’s garbled too. Another reason why the military decided to look the other way and make an excuse that it was an accident. But I taped a copy first. It’s not great, but it’s still something.”
“I want it,” Badger said in a harsh voice. “Where is it?”
The man dug into his sweatpants pocket, pulled out a USB key and held it up. “But I want the money first.”
Badger walked over to the small table in front of the window, plunked down the pack and took out the money. He placed it on the table and said, “And now I want that key.”
The man hopped up and raced over, his hands eagerly reaching for the money.
Crack.
The hole that appeared in the window was followed by a hole in the informant’s forehead. The look of stunned surprise crossed his face. It all happened too fast.
His body crumpled to the floor.
Badger ducked, quickly grabbing the money to shove it back into his bag. On his hands he crawled over to the informant. He took a picture of his face, snatched the key out of his hand, stuffed it in his own pocket and crawled to the door. He didn’t know how long before the police would arrive, but he had to make sure he wasn’t here when they did.
With a gloved hand, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He took the first fire exit and bolted downstairs.
He went out the back door to the alley and around the block. When he entered the pub seconds later, he watched the relief cross Kat’s face and realized just how much she was starting to care. Damn good thing. Yet every step he took down this road, he realized he might never come back. However, something about his relationship with Kat was a lifeline for him. If anybody would stop him from dying in this quest of his, it would be her.