Dire Distraction Read online

  “On their way,” Nash said, snapping the sat phone shut. “For now it’s just the locals. But Hannah’s on the horn with the brass in London as we speak, so I figure we’ll have a whole cadre of people within a couple of hours.”

  “Good,” Avery said. “In the meantime, we need to be sure that no one moves the body or messes with the scene. Even the local techs. We can use them to get the basics, but we’ll save the rest for the London crew.”

  “Avery?” Sydney called, still kneeling by the body, her head tilted quizzically as she studied the dead man. “I think maybe there’s something in his hand.”

  Avery dropped down beside her, and reached out for the man’s left hand. Carefully he pried back the lifeless fingers, and a small plastic disk dropped to the floor accompanied by a small scrap of paper.

  On the paper, Isaacs had written a series of coordinates along with a date and time.

  “Looks like latitude and longitude,” Nash noted from his position just over Sydney’s shoulder. “I’m guessing a location?”

  “But for what?” Sydney frowned.

  “No idea.” Avery shook his head, pushing to his feet, still holding the paper. “But I’m guessing it’s important.”

  “Wait a minute,” Sydney said, her voice hushed, almost a whisper. “I think we’ve got a problem.”

  Avery spun back to her, his gaze following hers to the black plastic disk on the floor. It looked a little like a garage door opener. With a gray button in the middle. Only Isaacs’s cottage didn’t have a garage. And a light just above the button was flashing red.

  “Considering Isaacs’s penchant for making things go boom, I’m guessing that’s a detonator,” Drake observed, his voice like Sydney’s gone suddenly sotto. “And since thanks to us, he’s only just released it, I’m also guessing that it’s been primed.”

  “Which means that we’ve probably only got seconds to get the hell out of here.” Nash was already moving toward the door. Drake close behind.

  Avery literally swung Sydney up and over his shoulder, running with her through the door and down the narrow stairs, taking the steps two at a time. At the bottom, he broke into a full-out sprint, tearing down the hallway and through the doorway, out onto the grass beneath the rowan tree.

  Ahead of him, he could see Nash and Drake as they dove for cover behind the stone wall. He started to follow, still holding tightly to Sydney, but a wave of pure energy and heat lifted him instead, throwing them into the air before sending them slamming back into the ground. Behind them, the house exploded in a burst of smoke and fire, and Avery rolled to cover Sydney’s body with his, shrapnel from the house raining down on them.

  The air was filled with the acrid stench of the burning remains, and black soot darkened the space around them. “Are you okay?” he asked, as he rolled off her, his heart in his throat as he helped her sit up.

  “Yeah,” she nodded, her wide-eyed gaze meeting his. “I think so.” She gave him a trembling smile. “Thanks to your quick thinking. Your saving me is getting to be a habit.”

  “One I’d just as soon not have to repeat any time soon,” he said, returning her smile. “Nash? Are you and Drake okay?”

  “Roger that,” his number two responded, wiping ash from his face and hands. “Just a couple of bruises. Thank God you saw the damn thing, Sydney.”

  “I don’t know, if we hadn’t pried it free…” She broke off, the enormity of the idea hitting her hard.

  “Wouldn’t have made a difference,” Avery reassured her as he pushed to his feet, then held out a hand to help her up. “The pressure was released the minute Isaacs died. He probably thought he’d be taking his killer with him. Only clearly he lasted longer than expected.”

  From the distance, Avery could hear the sound of a helicopter.

  “Looks like help is on its way,” Nash said. “Any chance you managed to keep hold of the slip of paper?”

  “Hell no,” Avery bit back a second oath as he looked down at his empty palm. “I must have dropped it when I grabbed Sydney.”

  “Totally understandable,” Nash replied. “And I’m guessing in the moment you weren’t thinking about memorizing the coordinates either.”

  Avery shook his head, frustration turning to anger. “I fucked up.”

  “Considering you saved my life, I think that’s overstating it a bit,” Sydney said, her smile growing broader. She was covered in soot, her teeth shining white against the black covering her cheeks, nose, and chin. “Besides, as it so happens, my memory is pretty close to photographic. Which means I’ve got the coordinates right here.” She touched a finger to her head, and Avery swung her into his arms with a whoop.

  “Now, that’s my kind of woman.”

  Chapter 17

  London, England

  You’re going to wear the carpet out,” Hannah Marshall said, as Sydney paced across the rug for the seven millionth time.

  Syd stopped, staring out the window into the quiet, cobblestoned street. The team had arrived in London several hours ago, and after a debrief with their English counterparts, had set up base at an MI5 safe house in the Maida Vale district of London. A small town house on a quiet mews.

  Isaacs’s coordinates had zeroed in on a business complex on the outskirts of London. The date and time indicated a possible meeting of some kind this afternoon. After much discussion and a liberal amount of arm twisting, A-Tac had been allowed lead on the attempt to subvert whatever might be about to happen.

  And since Sydney wasn’t technically assigned to the unit, Avery had ordered her to stay in Maida Vale with Hannah. Resigned to the turn of events, Sydney had been working with Hannah to try to track both Warner Stoltz and Isaacs’s Gregor. But so far, they’d hit nothing but dead ends. And the time was quickly approaching for whatever the hell Avery was walking into.

  Nash, Drake, Tyler, and Harrison were with him. And she knew that they were more than equipped to handle any situation, but that didn’t make it any easier to be the one left behind waiting.

  “It wasn’t his call,” Hannah said, correctly reading the train of Sydney’s thoughts. “He never would have asked you to stay behind. It was just protocol. Mainly MI5’s. They’re sticklers for that sort of thing. And we’ve been known to go off-book before, so I’m guessing they’re even more determined to keep us in line.”

  “It’s fine,” she replied, turning from the window to face the other woman. “Even if it was Avery’s call, I’d have understood it. No matter what else is going on, I’m a distraction. He needs to put the team first, and with me present, that just isn’t going to happen.”

  The minute the words were out, she regretted them. They hadn’t even spoken about a relationship privately let alone publicly, and here she was spouting off to his friend as if they were a real couple. She ducked her head, feeling the hot stain of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

  “Harrison is the same way during an operation,” Hannah said, ignoring Sydney’s obvious embarrassment. “He’s constantly torn between wanting me alongside for backup and wanting to sequester me in some kind of fortress for the duration. I mostly just ignore it. Although to be honest, if I had the choice, I’d lock him away somewhere safe too. It’s just the way it is when you love someone.”

  “But you manage?” Sydney asked, curiosity making her abandon all pretense. “I mean, the two of you together, it works? Even with both of you risking your lives?”

  “Yeah.” Hannah smiled, looking over the top of her rhinestone-encrusted glasses. “It isn’t always easy, but part of what makes it work is that we truly do get it. Both the need to be out there on the front lines and the desire to keep each other safe. It’s a balancing act. And sometimes one of us has to give. But we went into it with eyes wide open and the knowledge that we’re better together than apart.”

  “But Avery…” she began, then trailed off, chewing her lip.

  “Is Avery,” Hannah finished for her. “Larger than life. We all feel that way about him. But the truth
is, he’s just a man. He puts his boots on the same way as the rest of us.”

  “Yeah, but they’re some pretty amazing boots. I mean, just over the past few days, he managed to single-handedly thwart the Consortium, with a couple of drug kingpins thrown in for good measure, and save my life three times in the process.”

  “Believe me, you’re singing to the choir. Avery has been there for me in more ways than I can possibly enumerate. He’s family. Hell, he’s the heart of A-Tac. I’ve no doubt he’d take a bullet for any one of us. But I’ve also never seen him light up the way he does when you’re around. Never.”

  Sydney felt herself go warm again.

  “And if you feel the same way about him,” Hannah continued, “then you’ll figure the rest of it out the same way Harrison and I did, one day at a time.”

  “Good thoughts.” She glanced down at her watch. “They should be getting ready. The meeting, or whatever it is, is only a little while from now.”

  “I’m sure they’ve got it under control. For all we know, it’ll be a dead end. If Isaacs was supposed to be meeting someone, it’s possible they already know he’s dead. Which means there won’t be anyone there. And if Avery runs into a problem, he knows we’re here for backup.”

  Sydney nodded, still not completely convinced. “I just can’t help but worry that this is another trap.”

  “I’ve had the same thought. But you have to remember that Isaacs was holding the trigger to a bomb as well. He had to have been holding both at the same time, which makes it pretty unlikely that his killer left the slip of paper. If he’d attempted something like that, it seems to me that he would have been blown up in the process.”

  “So maybe they really will find something solid.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair, exhaustion warring with concern. “It would be really nice if we could nail the bastards behind the attack in Myanmar.”

  “Avery said they were trying to kidnap you.”

  “Yeah, it looks that way. I think maybe to have leverage over my father.”

  “Ambassador Walker.”

  “You are good with intel,” Sydney said with a smile.

  “Well, that bit came from Avery. Have you talked with your dad?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to make sure I had all the facts. I’ve no reason to believe he’s in any danger. Just that someone might have been trying to get to him through me.”

  “Which is worrying in and of itself,” Hannah agreed. “But sitting here fretting isn’t going to do either one of us any good. Besides being my friend, Avery is also my boss, and if we don’t have new information on Warner Stoltz and this Gregor character by the time he gets back, heads are going to roll. And given his feelings for you, I’d say most likely that means mine.” Her smile widened as she turned back to her computer screen.

  “So where are we?” Sydney asked, grateful that they’d moved onto safer topics and yet comforted by both Hannah’s wisdom and support. Maybe she was going to like this teamwork thing.

  “I’m cross-referencing Stoltz’s name with Gregor’s. Makes it more difficult when we’ve got only one name. And we’re not even sure whether it’s a first name or a surname. But if I get a hit, then maybe we’ll have more to go on.”

  “What about Stoltz? Anything more that might connect him to the Consortium?”

  “The tricky thing with this group is that we don’t have any names. Or at least none that are living. Every time we get close to someone that might have answers, they manage to get to them first.”

  “And shut them up permanently.”

  “Exactly. Although nobody’s perfect, and sooner or later they’re bound to make a mistake. So far though, I’ve got a short list of Gregors with connections to the arms industry—players on both sides of the fence, legitimate and otherwise—but nothing that links any of them to the Consortium. But this kind of thing takes time. And a lot of digging.”

  “What can I do?” Sydney asked, looking for something, anything, to keep her mind occupied.

  “Well, if you really want to help,” Hannah said, waggling her eyebrows over the rims of her glasses, “you could go to the pub on the corner and get us something to eat. I’ve got a thing for English pasties, and I noticed they were listed on the chalkboard as we drove by on the way in.”

  * * *

  “When people talk about the fog in London, they’re not exaggerating,” Drake said as they huddled in a breezeway across from the building pinpointed by Isaacs’s coordinates. “I can’t see my damn hand in front of my face.”

  “Makes it a hell of a lot more difficult to manage surveillance,” Nash agreed.

  “Not to mention making it feel like you’re soaked to the bone without actually getting wet.” Harrison shivered, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

  “You guys are just babies,” Tyler said. “You’d think you’d never seen a little mist.”

  “Hey, we’re way beyond mist,” Drake said, waving a hand at the shrouded street in front of them. “There’s a reason they say thick as pea soup.”

  “So what’s the play?” Nash asked, cutting through the chatter to bring them back to the matter at hand.

  “We infiltrate, then neutralize anyone we find inside,” Avery said, his gaze sweeping across the rain-slick pavement to the building partially masked in the heavy fog.

  Four stories tall, it had stood empty for the past eighteen months, a by-product of the economic strife that had swept across Europe. The owner had defaulted on his loan, leaving the building in bank hands. But although the bank was holding the papers, it was clear from the broken windows on the first floor that the building wasn’t being maintained.

  “Place looks more like a crack house then an international conglomerate’s headquarters,” Tyler observed, correctly reading Avery’s thoughts.

  “Appearances can be deceiving. Bottom line, Isaacs had the address for a reason. And now it’s up to us to figure out what it was.” He glanced down at his watch. “It’s time. We’ll go on my mark.” He waited as the seconds ticked down and then signaled Tyler, who was tasked with coming in through the back of the building.

  She moved out, keeping low, and after no more than fifteen feet or so, disappeared into the fog.

  “Nash, you’re next.”

  His second in command nodded once, and then after checking his weapon, sprinted for the fire escape located on the south side of the building. His job was to access the roof and then enter through a service duct using the ladder there. One minute he was there in plain view and then he too disappeared into the gloom.

  “All right, Harrison, Drake and I are off next. We’ll check in as soon as we’re in position. You’ll be here keeping an eye on anyone coming and going.”

  “Roger that,” Harrison agreed. “Besides having eyes on the building physically, I’ve also hacked into the feed of a couple of nearby security cameras. So far there hasn’t been any activity. Although it’s hard to be certain with the fog.”

  Avery glanced down at his watch again. “According to this, we should be right on time for the party, whatever the hell it is.”

  “Good hunting,” Harrison said as they set off, heading across the pavement into the shadows of the overhang from the building directly next door.

  “You’re thinking this is a trap.” Drake’s tone made it clear that he wasn’t asking a question.

  “I think it’s a distinct possibility,” Avery agreed. “So we need to be ready for anything.”

  The two of them inched forward, covering each other’s backs as they made their way to the front door of the identified building.

  “Harrison,” Avery called, reaching up to adjust his earpiece. “You getting this?”

  “Copy that.” Harrison’s voice was broken up by static but still audible.

  “Nash?”

  “I’m here,” Nash responded. “The door was locked, but I managed to pick it. So I’m ready on your go.”

  “Tyler?” Static filled the line, and Avery tightened hi
s grip on the Beretta he carried. “Tyler, are you receiving this?”

  “Loud and clear,” came the answering response. “Sorry for the delay. I thought I had company, but it turned out it was only a cat. I’m in place now. Chain and padlock no longer operational.”

  “All right then,” Avery said, flipping on the tac light attached to his gun. “Let’s go in. Everyone stay alert.”

  Flanking both sides of the door, Avery and Drake waited a beat and then pushed it open, and stepped inside. After the cold swirling mist, the inside of the building seemed unusually warm. The floors were dusty, and in places, the insulation showing through holes in the walls.

  “Not exactly a palace,” Drake said, swinging into an empty room, leading with his gun.

  “We’re clear in here.”

  Together they worked their way down the hall, finding nothing but empty offices and abandoned furniture. A couple of the offices had been adopted by squatters, refuse piled in corners. But anyone who had been living there had obviously moved on. Or up.

  As they approached the stairwell, something ahead of them, buried in shadow, moved. Avery motioned Drake back against the wall, and the two of them waited, listening. The soft tread of a footfall sounded against the floor.

  Holding a finger against his lips, Avery sprang away from the wall, swinging around the corner, holding the Beretta so that the tac light cut across the hall.

  “Whoa there cowboy,” Tyler said, holding up her hands. “I’m on your side.”

  Avery lowered his weapon, and Drake joined them in the narrow hallway.

  “You see anything suspicious in back?” he asked her.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head. “Place looks like it’s been empty for a while. No trash in the bin. And nothing to indicate that anyone has been living here with any regularity.”

  “Same for us,” Drake said. “Couple of rooms looked like vagrants might have moved in, but there’s no sign of them now. In fact, from the looks of it, I’d say no one has been in here in one hell of a long time. You guys want to head up?” He motioned toward the stairs.