Chapter 22
Four hours later Saskia had set up a cash pickup not far from the safe house. She located a trusted fence she’d worked with in the past, who worked as a sort of money launderer. He would cobble together her money from three locations, and for a fee, bring it to her. Perfect.
What she was giving to Jack was a good portion of her secret savings. But if she couldn’t do something good with it, then why let it sit around waiting for discovery by the ECU and eventually having it stolen out from under her?
Tossing aside the empty bag of vinegar and pepper crisps, she wished that Jack would have brought back something solid and not just snacks. Her stomach did not like the sugary soda pop at all, so she switched to the bottled water. In the living room, Jack paced. He’d been good about not disturbing her while she’d wrangled her money. She turned from the laptop to announce she was ready—when her laptop rang.
“Who the hell is that?” The look Jack gave her said he knew exactly who it was. She’d not expected a hack into the laptop but she wasn’t surprised.
“Sorry. But I’m going to take this.”
It was Chester Clarke at the ECU. He started right in. “We’ve ID’d the tattoos on the sniper. They indicate the man was a torpedo for the Siberian brigade of the bratva, as you’d suspected. Torpedoes are contract killers. This brigade can be connected to Clive’s actions. Clive must have reported Angelo, or possibly you, to his higher-ups, and the hit was called in.”
Saskia eyed Jack as he waited for her to speak. “What’s the next step?”
“We need you to bring in Clive Hendrix for questioning. We’ll get a confession out of him, perhaps a hit list, and that will bring us one step closer to the mafia. With the sniper’s body, we’ve only circumstantial evidence.”
“I don’t think Clive will give up the mafia. He’s not got a death wish.”
“We’ve methods of extracting confessions.”
Saskia was sure they did. And she couldn’t stifle a shudder to wonder about it. On the other hand, narcing on the mafia? She’d probably have a tough time doing that and would go with whatever the ECU thought they could dish out.
“You need to get in touch with Clive, set up a meeting,” Chester continued. “We’ll be there to bring him in. You have his contact info?”
“I do. What do you want me to set the meeting up for? Just to chat? That’s not going to go well. The last time I saw Clive he left me for dead in a Helsinki ditch.”
“Yes, a meeting. And you’re going to have to go back on grid, Saskia. This is highly unprecedented. We need to be able to track you. I know you’re with Jack Angelo. You’re protecting him. And that’s not going to go well for you.”
“It’s a choice I had to make. Wait.” Her phone beeped, indicating another call. It didn’t ID the caller, but she had a suspicion. “I’ll get back to you, Chester. I think the dog just came sniffing at my door.” She clicked on to the new caller and Clive’s voice was cheery and not at all reminiscent of the heroin-addled bastard who had stabbed her earlier this morning.
“We need to talk, Sass.”
“Is that so? What? You want to finish the job? You want to stab the other leg now?”
“I was high, Sass. I’m terribly sorry. Honest. I don’t know why I did that. I get crazy when I mainline.”
“If I had known you had an issue with drugs, I would have never worked with you.” She noticed Jack’s keen interest, and mouthed “Clive.” “Where are you?”
“London, of course.”
“I thought you were going to meet Niles in Belize?”
“I needed to make things right between us before I could go. I followed you.”
Of course he had.
“That’s pretty extreme just to apologize.”
“I didn’t say anything about an apology. I want to make things right. I need you for the next job, Sass. Your skills…”
“Are apparently useless for your modus operandi. We never take anything, Clive. You don’t need me to tap into the main vaults. What the hell?”
“I’ll let you in on the real operation if you’ll come meet me.”
“Tell me now. Over the phone.”
“Too dangerous. My people like to keep tabs on me.”
The bratva. Ugh. Saskia wanted to drop the phone right now. Because if the mafia got a line on her, she would not live to see tomorrow. But then, they had already sent a sniper after either her or Jack. She was in deep. And that was not cool.
“You think a face to face meeting is going to be any less dangerous?” She made show of blowing out her breath. She was stringing him along when she knew this is exactly what the ECU wanted. But it felt wrong. And so dangerous.
Of course, that was what she did. Face danger and give it the middle finger. But danger had never come tattooed and reeking of the mafia before. Damn it, she hated this.
Meeting gazes with Jack, she looked for something, anything, in his eyes. And she found there a deep respect and certain confidence that shimmered through her system and straightened her spine. Is that what love did to a woman? That was definitely going on in her heart right now.
“Where?” she asked Clive.
“In Peckham on the Left Bank.” He read off an address to her. “In an hour?”
He was in a hurry. And she had a pickup in less than an hour.
“I’m not familiar with London. I can make it in an hour and a half.”
“That’ll work. Come alone. I know Jack is with you.”
“We’ve…recently parted ways,” she said, thinking if Clive knew about the sniper hit, he might assume Jack had been taken out.
“He’s gone? Where?”
“Not sure. Something happened. And that’s all I’m going to say.”
“Very well. Sass. I want you to trust me. You’re key to the crew. I need you.”
“You’re going to have to prove it by making up for stabbing me.” She clicked off and set the phone on the table.
“That bastard wants to meet?” Jack asked.
She nodded and stood, stretching her back muscles from side to side and feeling the painful tug in her thigh again. The longer she sat, the achier her muscles grew. She needed to stay on her feet.
“The first caller was Chester. He wants me back online with them.” She tapped the phone. “The sniper was with the bratva. A torpedo.” “Hired killer,” Jack said, and then whistled lowly. He rubbed the cut on his cheek. “They should get a refund for that cocked up job.”
“Right? Chester has been able to connect Clive to the bratva as well, and he’s assuming Clive made the call for the hit. The ECU wants me to bring Clive in. And wonder upon wonders, Clive followed us here.”
“He’s in London?”
“Someplace in Peckham.”
“That’s not far from here.”
She nodded. “I can’t seem to shake that guy. He’s like a tick that I can’t crush.”
“You arranged to meet him. You’re not going alone.”
“He thinks you’re gone. I tossed that in, in case he believes the sniper hit his mark.”
Jack nodded. “Good call. But you’re not going alone. I’ll be close.”
“I want you there. I don’t trust Clive as far as I can spit. I think he’s going to try and take me out.” And the shiver up her spine echoed that statement. “We need to move. I’ve got the pickup soon.”
“Right. But first.” Jack strode down the hallway and into the bedroom. “Come here!”
She wandered into the white-walled room. The twin-size bed boasted an old patchwork quilt that looked like something Saskia’s grandmother might have made. It was a strangely homey touch that made her gasp and put her fingers to her throat.
Jack sorted through some items hanging in the closet and produced a black vest. “Kevlar,” he said.
“You want me to wear that?”
“You’re not leaving without it on. And I’m going to arm up.” He tossed her the heavy vest, and then bent to push aside a shoe rack that revealed a medium-sized safe. Two minutes later, he checked the magazine on a Ruger and then tucked it in his waistband. “Now, we’re ready.”
* * * *
The pickup was a breeze. Jack almost stopped Saskia from reaching out the car window for the plain brown leather attaché handed over from a parked Volvo. She had cobbled together a million pounds to ransom his brother. A million pounds that he didn’t have to pay her back. A million she had saved for whatever sort of emergency or backup plans she had made.
He couldn’t do this.
She turned to him, attaché in hand, beaming. “Drive, Jack. We’re done here.”
The Volvo drove away and for a moment Jack felt helpless. And grateful. And lost in the woman’s smile.
“Jack?”
He shook out of the strange wonder. Saskia laid the attaché on her lap and rapped her fingers on it. “Come on. We’ve gotta head to the next meeting. The one where I get dead.”
“Don’t say that.” He pulled into traffic from the parking lot and signaled his turn. “I’m going to have eyes on you the whole time. And you’ve got Chester in your ear, yes?”
“Yes, the ECU should be on the scene. You know this will lead the ECU right to you?”
“There’s no place I’d rather be right now.” He cast her a wink, but the lighthearted move didn’t ring true in his heart. He was nervous as hell that the ECU would scoop him up and take him away. Or take him out.
It could happen. It would happen. He crossed his fingers it didn’t occur until after he’d gotten Jonny back safely.
“The only place you want to be right now is at your brother’s side,” Saskia said. “So, you going to write me an IOU for this, Jack?”
“The money? Of course.”
“I’m kidding. This is a gift. I have more.”
“You do? How comfortable are you?”
“I would never call keeping money in overseas bank accounts comfortable, but I’ll survive. It means a lot that you’ll take this from me.”
“Like how so?”
“Like…” She turned on the seat and faced him. He kept his eyes on the traffic but he could feel her scrutiny on the side of his face. He wanted to lean over and kiss her. “Maybe I like you more than a little,” she confessed. “Enough to trust you with my secrets, anyway.”
“I’ve told you that isn’t wise.”
“I think it is. You might not want to show it, but you feel the same way about me. I have a confession, Jack.”
“Bring it.”
“I’ve never been in love before. Never had a relationship that made me want anything more than club-hopping and sex from a guy, you know?”
“Why are you bringing this up?”
“Because. Maybe… This could be love. I don’t really know what that is though,” she said. “No one has ever said it to me. But then, who knows? Maybe I am in love.”
He swallowed and glanced at her. She shrugged, offering wide, bright eyes. God, she was beautiful. And talking about love and all that crazy stuff? He wanted to get behind it, but he was like her. Love wasn’t tops on his list of experiences. Women had been rather fluid in his life. One or two might have hung around for a few months, but never anything permanent. It was difficult to have a relationship when a guy was a thug. And even harder when his life belonged to a black ops Interpol organization.
Not that he couldn’t have relationships. He’d just…never taken the time for one. It had always been family first.
But his family had grown distant. And yet, why did he feel Saskia was akin to family?
“I just freaked you out, didn’t I?” she asked. “Sorry. That was my mistake.”
“No, it’s cool.” He pulled down a dark road. It was nearing ten in the evening. They were cutting it close to the midnight exchange for his brother.
“I think we both feel kind of the same, yeah?”
He smirked. “Yeah. The meet location is just ahead. I’m going to drop you off and park a few blocks up the way, then return on foot. You call in to Chester now and get your backup.”
“Will do.”
She slid the case under the front seat. Tugging off the scarf from around her neck, Saskia arranged it over the part that still showed, concealing it.
Jack’s phone rang and he answered abruptly. “Midnight,” the voice said. “The dock in East Tilbury. You know the one.”
Yes, he did. It was a place he and Jonny had once smuggled in stolen artifacts for the Downs gang. An unassuming, wooded area that hid a few old, unused docks nowadays.
“Got it,” Jack said. “My brother better be there. I’ve got the cash.” He hung up. “The exchange is by the river.”
“Really? A dock?” Saskia asked.
“It’s on the Thames, out of the city in East Tilbury. Down the way from Coalhouse Fort. It’s about an hour drive from here. If the traffic cooperates.”
“Then you should leave for the dock now,” she said, zipping up her coat to cover the Kevlar vest. “I’ll have backup.” She tapped the earbud.
Jack waited for her to make arrangements with Chester. The ECU would likely send a sniper out to keep an eye on Clive, though it sounded as though they wanted him alive. The local London police would be called to make an arrest. But they’d have to surround the meet on the sly so as not to alert Clive. Best scenario was if Saskia could keep him talking and not allow him to take her to another location.
“Ten minutes,” she said to Jack. “I should head out. I’ll see you after midnight?”
“I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
“Jack.”
“Hey, let me do the guy thing here, will you?”
She smiled at his turning around what she’d said to him earlier when she’d cleaned up his wound.
“You mean the rescuing knight?” she asked. “You’ve done that once already when I could have frozen to death in the ditch.”
“Maybe I need more practice.” He leaned over and pulled her to him with a hand to her nape. The kiss was warm and firm and the best thing he’d ever experience from here on out.
Because the moment he walked away from Saskia and handed over her cash to the men holding his brother, his future was uncertain. No way could he turn back and pretend everything was still the same.
As he pulled away from her mouth, but not so far that he still couldn’t kiss her quick, Jack said, “Family.”
“Is waiting for you,” she affirmed.
“No. It’s right here.” And another kiss was just the thing to keep him from saying more mushy, romantic stuff. His heart was feeling it, but it felt weird to put it into words. Especially a tough guy like himself. “You’re my family, Saskia. Don’t forget that. Now go. I’ve got your back.”
She nodded, bowing her head quickly and sniffing as she got out of the car. Had that been a tear she’d sniffed back?
“This romance stuff is crazy,” he muttered, pulling slowly down the street to find a parking spot. “It’ll be the death of me.”
* * * *
Saskia stood at the open end of the alleyway, hands in her pockets, knit cap pulled down tightly to keep away the chill. She didn’t need a disguise.
In her earbud, Chester spoke calmly. “We’re on, Saskia. I’ve got a man up high and a team of London constables on the other side of the building. Unmarked. We don’t want to spook the man. Keep him talking and allow the constables to move in.”
She didn’t reply. He wouldn’t expect her to.
So she had three men at her back? Correction: four. Jack was somewhere. She wished he’d gone on to the dock to rescue his brother. But he still had time. And knowing he was watching her right now lifted her shoulders and straightened her spine.
Maybe she had fallen in love with the bloke. Too bad there wasn’t a way to know what the next few minutes would bring. It would be a crime if, after finally realizing she had fallen in love, she lost that by death.
A man strode down the alley toward her, his gaze flicking left and right and up high, taking in the surroundings. Clive noted every crook and cranny. His hands were shoved in the slim pea coat he wore, and on his head a tight-fitted knit cap—much like Jack’s—concealed his silver hair. He neared and she shook her hands out at her sides to show him she wasn’t holding a weapon.
“Sass,” he said as he closed their distance. “I’m glad you came. So I’ll do you the favor of making this quick.”
Fingers tightening, Saskia’s heart dropped. That didn’t sound at all favorable from her side.
Clive stopped five feet before her, hands still in his pockets. “The sniper’s bullet was meant for you,” he said.
Her jaw dropped open.
“I’ve suspected you were duping me since the poison you gave me turned out to be nothing more than a compound of salt and fertilizer. I tasted it.” He pulled a hand out of his pocket.
She looked high for the sniper, but sighted no one.
“You’re with some secret organization,” Clive said. “My employer filled me in. Thanks for nothing.”
The impact of a bullet to the Kevlar vest at such close range pushed her back and threw her off her feet. Saskia felt as if her spine had been punched out through her back. She struggled to stay on her feet, clutching at her gut.
A hand gripped her by the hair and pulled her head up. The gun barrel hit hard against her temple.