Charlie wound slowly up the small mountain roads leading into the southwestern foothills of the Alps. If they headed much further north, they’d be in Italy. The scenery was beautiful in its winter beauty.
“We’re nearly to our stopping spot,” Jung-sook said from the front passenger seat.
Luke nodded, but continued staring out the window at the snowy landscape. They’d have enough time to walk in, complete their task, and get out before sundown.
“Is Owen in place?” Luke asked.
“Yes. He says their team is ready to move out as soon as we arrive.”
“Good.” Luke returned to watching the landscape roll by.
When the BMW crunched onto gravel, Luke knew they still had a few minutes of driving before they arrived at their initial destination. Pulling his eyes away from the side window, he stared forward, his mind readying to take him into action—as it always did when it was nearly go time. He appreciated the focus tugging his mind away from the maudlin places it wanted to go since Roxi had left, though in reality, he still hadn’t recovered from his captivity.
As the car rolled to a stop, Luke unbuckled and slid out of the car. Owen stepped over but stopped, giving a deep bow with a ridiculously overdone rolling hand gesture.
“How may I serve Lord Fancy Pants?” Owen affected a hoity-toity accent straight from a BBC production.
“It’s time for my afternoon tea. A proper servant would have anticipated my needs,” Luke replied.
Owen laughed. “I guess that’s why I’m not a servant. It’s good to see you, even if you’re wearing that ridiculous face. Do you ever take it off?”
“No. Not even in my room. I don’t want any chances for mishaps. We ready to go?”
Owen nodded and tossed him a Kevlar vest. “As soon as you put on your formal wear, we can head to the ball.”
Once Luke had the vest snuggly on, he pulled his heavy coat on over it. Owen handed him a compact, modern machine gun of a variety he wasn’t familiar with. He saw a couple other similar weapons plus a few of the APC9Ks Owen had procured from his sources. He was still working on some heavier arms, but the machine guns had proven handy already.
“Are you sure you know the way in?” Jung-sook asked.
“It’s been a while, but yeah, I do,” Luke replied. He looked around to the six other people. “Y’all ready?”
He waved the team after him as they disappeared into the woods. The snow wasn’t terribly deep, but enough so to make the journey strenuous. With the heavy coat and the Kevlar vest, sweat dripped down his back and forehead. When he heard a familiar whistle up ahead, he raised his fist to stop their advance. He pointed to Jung-sook who gave the proper whistle countersign.
Ahmed stepped out of the shadow of a large tree and gave a wave. Jung-sook unslung the extra APC9K she’d brought with her and handed it to Ahmed.
“Our target still on site?” Luke asked.
“Yup. They’ve got a patrol outside and four people inside with the target.” Ahmed pulled the magazine from the gun and checked the ammo before returning it and chambering a round. The rest of the team followed suit, giving theirs one last check before loading a round.
“Lead the way.” Luke gestured forward.
Ahmed nodded and moved forward at a quick crouched walk, keeping close to the trees. The rest of the team assumed the surreptitious movements and swept through the woods like the professionals they were. When Ahmed held up his fist, the rest of the team stopped and ducked behind trees. He pointed toward Jung-sook and issued a series of hand signals.
Luke tipped his head to the side. He thought he heard voices. The werewolves on the team all looked in the same direction, having picked up the voices before Luke. As the sound grew closer, two people turned the corner. Both of them wore thick dark clothes and ski masks that obscured their faces. Each of them carried machine guns dangling from their shoulders.
As silent as ninjas, Ahmed and Jung-sook slipped from their hiding places and worked their way toward the guards. When they reached the last line of trees, they waited until the pair of guards turned the corner of the ratty wooden house they were patrolling. As soon as the guards’ backs were to them, Ahmed and Jung-sook stepped around their trees and started forward, picking up speed while still maintaining their silence, then closed the distance, knives in their hands.
Luke held his breath. A twig snapped. The guards made to turn to investigate the sound, but it was too late. Ahmed and Jung-sook locked their targets with an arm and dragged their knives across the guards’ throats. The bodies tumbled to the ground, the snow around their necks turning pink then red.
That was the signal for the rest of the team to move out. Luke followed behind them, stopping at the tree line while Owen led the rest in. Ahmed and Jung-sook waited by the door, one on each side. Once Owen drew level with them, he reared back and kicked the door open, then stepped back as Jung-sook and Ahmed swept in followed by everyone else. Screams and yelling drifted from the house. Automatic gun shots rang out.
That was Luke’s cue.
He strode out of the woods and through the door. Bodies lay about the house, blood pooling around them. Luke’s team finished sweeping the house, calling out clear as they checked each of the rooms.
“He’s back here,” Ahmed called.
“Clear,” Jung-sook yelled. “That’s our last room.”
Luke walked through the mess of immobile bodies, stepping over splayed arms and pools of blood. When he reached the back of the dilapidated house, Ahmed stepped out of the way, clearing the way for Luke. A man of medium height sat aggressively tied to a chair. The extra rope and cuffs compensated for the werewolf’s strength. A dark bag covered his head.
Luke squatted down in front of the man then reached up and pulled the bag off his face. Mathis squinted and blinked his eyes as he tried to adjust to the sudden light.
“Fancy meeting you here, Mathis,” Luke said.
“Your… Your Excellency?” Mathis looked confused.
“Are you ready to get out of here? Unless you’re comfortable here. I can always leave you and check back later.” Luke pasted a smirk on his face.
“No. I think I’d like to leave now. How did you know where I was?”
“We can discuss that later.” Luke pulled a double-edged dagger from the sheath on his belt and sliced through the ropes.
Ahmed cleared his throat. “We checked the bodies for keys. Found these.”
Luke took the keys and unlocked the twelve sets of handcuffs. “Take your time getting up. Work some blood back into your feet and hands. Ahmed, Jung-sook. Take Mr. Heinen back to the car and make sure he doesn’t get lost. I want to look around and see who our wayward kidnappers might be.”
“I’d like to know too,” Mathis said.
Luke, his lips drawing into a thin line, turned to Mathis. “My people are taking you back to our vehicle. This isn’t a debate.” Luke issued a couple crisp hand signals.
Ahmed and Jung-sook grabbed Mathis, one on each arm, and moved him out of the room where he’d been kept, through the house, and out of the door. Luke strolled through the house and stepped outside to watch Luxembourg’s packleader disappear into the woods. Leaning up against the side of the wall near the two bodies of the patrol guards, he waited for five minutes after Mathis and his bodyguards disappeared into the woods.
Just for good measure, he waited a few more minutes. “OK. We’re all clear here.”
He reached down and helped the nearest guard off the ground, then patted the other one on the back as they walked into the house. When he stepped inside, the rest of the kidnappers were getting up. A couple pealed their masks off. When Maggie’s face appeared from under a ski mask, Luke smiled and approached her. She held up a hand, stopping him before he could hug her.
“You’ll get this fake blood on your clothes.” She turned and disappeared into one of the rooms, coming a back out a minute later in clean, dry clothes. “That’s better.”
She stepped into Luke’s arms and hugged him tightly. When they pushed back, a smile spread on his face.
“You have a little smear of fake blood right here.” He ran his finger down her jaw and onto her neck.
Maggie shivered from the touch and smiled. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “That tickles. You should probably get going before the fierce kidnappers take advantage of the poor Count without most of his bodyguards.”
“You’re not exactly making the case for my departure very compelling. Especially for such a sexy criminal,” Luke replied.
Owen shook his head, a smirk dominating his face. “You two knock it off. There are innocent eyes around here.”
Maggie snorted. “I’ve known you for a long time, Owen. There is nothing innocent about you or your eyes.”
“You wound me, madam.” Owen held a hand over his chest and wore an outraged expression.
Luke chuckled and shook his head. “Though she’s probably right—”
“About my innocence?” Owen interrupted.
“I mean, yeah, that too, but I’m speaking more specifically about my exit from this house of red-colored corn syrup carnage. Rhonda, Johann, and Joe, you’re with me. Owen, nice job on the weapons. How are we looking on the rest of the arsenal?”
“Good. I have a meeting the day after tomorrow with Pieter and one of our contacts. If the team can drop me off in Nice, I can make my way to Marseille.”
“That’ll work. I want everyone else to set up in Nice anyway so they’re close on hand in case I need them.” Luke leaned down and kissed Maggie passionately before stepping back with a final squeeze to her hand. “I’ll communicate through Maggie so we can plan the next phase.”
After nods and mumbles of ascent, Luke waved and stepped out of the house with a final look and smile for Maggie. His three new bodyguards fell in with him as they tromped their way through the snowy woods back toward the other car. When they made it to their parking spots, the BMW was already gone, whisking Mathis back to Monaco.
Johann, the German former freighter captain, took the driver’s position while Joe took shotgun. Rhonda joined Luke in the back.
“That went pretty well,” Rhonda said once they were on the road. “Maggie leads a tight team.”
“She’s an exceptional woman.” Luke smiled. “Now we just have to land this plane and make sure Heinen doesn’t learn it’s all a flimflam.”
Rhonda nodded and patted Luke’s knee. “We’ll leave you alone to get ready for your sales meeting with Heinen.”
“I need to make a call along the way,” Luke said. Once they made it far enough down the out of the mountains, Luke called Gabriela Heinen.
“Your Excellency? Do you have news?” She sounded eager, though she managed to temper it with caution.
“I can do you one better. I have your husband. He’s currently in my vehicle with my bodyguards on his way back to Monaco,” Luke replied.
“Really? Are you… Are you joking?”
“I would never joke about anything this serious, ma’am. I don’t think he has his phone on him, but as soon as he’s near one, I’m sure he’ll reach out to you.” Luke moved the phone from his left ear to his right so he could lean against the window.
“Thank you, Your Excellency. I… Thank you. Please protect him.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be assigning a pair of my bodyguards to him while we’re here.”
“I don’t know how I can repay you. If there’s anything…”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk more later. I need to make sure arrangements are made for our return to Monaco,” Luke replied.
“Of course. We’ll speak later, Your Excellency. Goodbye.” Gabriela hung up.
Luke exhaled explosively.
“You could get an Oscar for that conversation, Luke,” Rhonda said, shaking her head.
“I guess so. I’d much rather deal with things head on than this cloak and dagger stuff. But we must use all tools available to us, whether they’re our favorite or not.” Luke took out his phone and queued up Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”
Luke appreciated that his team understood his need to recharge to deal with outsiders, especially when he had to deal with the man who’d betrayed him and his friends. The lovely French hills and mountains made for a meditative backdrop as they wound down the narrow mountain roads on their way back to Monaco.
* * *
Luke stared into the mirror then snugged his tie into place. Taking a deep breath, he held it before letting it out. He hated that he had to go make nice with Mathis. There was nothing to do about it. He exited his bedroom and waved Rhonda and Joe behind him and strode through the hotel’s halls toward Mathis’s room.
Ahmed and Jung-sook stood outside his room, flanking the door and looking cool and intimidating. When he stopped in front of the door, Ahmed leaned over and rapped on it.
“Mr. Heinen. His Excellency is here to see you,” Ahmed said.
Heinen cracked the door, peeking out with one eye. His eye widened in recognition. He opened the door and welcomed Luke in.
“Your Excellency, welcome to my room.” Mathis backed up with a small bend to the waist that tipped from warm and respectful to obsequious.
“How are you doing, Mathis?”
“Better after a shower. Tired. I’m not sure I can ever thank you enough for rescuing me.”
“As we Americans say, no problem.”
“Can I get you a drink?” Mathis asked, gesturing toward a small bar with bottles.
“Sure, I’ll take a glass of whatever you’re having.”
Mathis nodded and grabbed a glass and filled it from a bottle of brown liquor. Luke took the glass and ran it under his nose, taking a sniff. After a sip, he exhaled happily.
“That’s a nice bourbon. Thank you.” Luke raised his glass toward Mathis.
“Least I can do for my American friend.” Mathis sagged into a chair, his normal crisp demeanor on temporary vacation.
Luke raised an eyebrow then shrugged before pulling out a chair to sit across from Mathis. They sat quietly drinking until Mathis finally tossed back the rest of his liquor.
“I don’t know where to start, Your Excellency, but…how? How did you find me so fast?”
“I keep my ear to the ground wherever I’m going. Though in this case, it was pure luck. I had Ahmed keep an eye on you since you didn’t bring any people of your own. I figured it was the least I could do after you so graciously invited me to accompany you to Monaco. I’m glad I did. Who would want to kidnap you?”
Mathis shook his head and splashed some more bourbon into his glass. “I don’t know. I haven’t received any threats recently.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “Recently?”
“I’m a powerful man. You should know what it’s like. You’re one yourself. We collect enemies like other men collect sports memorabilia.” Mathis stared off into the distance.
“Why do you think I travel with a security team? And lucky for you, I had more than Ahmed and Jung-sook with me and had my ground team come down in advance. Once Ahmed relayed your location, I was able to mobilize them, swoop in, and free you from your captors. Do you have anyone on your enemy list that might be capable of kidnapping you and trying to ransom you?” Luke relaxed back in his chair and crossed an ankle over his knee. He rested his arm along the rounded back of the chair, dangling his glass from the tip of his fingers as he casually swirled the bourbon inside.
Mathis shifted in his seat, his shoulders rounding as he slumped forward, resting an elbow on his thigh. “Some people owe me money. I don’t know if any of them would be ambitious enough to attempt a kidnapping. Especially a venture with that many people involved. I’m a banker. I’m not anyone that important.”
Luke grabbed the bottle of bourbon and refilled his glass before resuming his exaggeratedly calm seated power stance. “Let’s stop beating around the bush here, Mathis. You know what my bodyguards are. I know what you are.”
Mathis went rigid, his eyes going wide before he pulled himself together and sat back. He tried to feign a casual, relaxed attitude, but his body practically vibrated. Luke took a drink, staring at Mathis, his eyes half lidded. Mathis’s tongue darted out to moisten his lips.
Flicking his eyebrows, Luke tipped his head before taking another drink of his bourbon. He felt his jaw muscles start to tighten but forced them to remain steady. Mathis took a drink and then exhaled, nodding.
“You’re a very observant man, Your Excellency.” Mathis raised his glass.
Luke returned the gesture. “I like to know who I’m associating with, Mathis.”
“As do I, though apparently I don’t have all the information I thought I had. The point you raised does increase the pool of potential suspects. Though I’d thought my alliances were a bit more secure.”
“It could be a political rival. Someone trying to destabilize your relationships and alliances?”
Mathis shrugged. “It’s a brutal world out there, and things that look stable on the surface can be anything but underneath.”
“Care to elaborate?”
Mathis snorted and eyed Luke. “I’m grateful for your help today, but kidnappings are the shallow end of the pool. And as informed as you are, you’re not ready for the deep end, Your Excellency.”
Luke chuckled and took a heavy drink of bourbon. Mathis smirked, most of the tension draining from his body for real this time.
“Have you contacted your wife since your return?” Luke asked. “She was most worried when she received the ransom video.”
Mathis sat up straighter. “I thought you said your man followed me.”
“He did. But you know from where you were abducted. I’m a discrete man and I figured that was information your wife didn’t need.” Luke leaned forward, the corner of one side of mouth quirking up. “Am I correct?”
The Luxembourg packleader nodded curtly. “I appreciate your discretion, Your Excellency. I’m glad we spoke at the auction. You’ve turned out to be a fortunate friend.”
“Indeed. Becoming your acquaintance has been most intriguing.” Luke finished his glass of Bourbon and stood up. “I’ll leave you to recuperate.”
Mathis stood and extended a hand. “Thank you again, Your Excellency.”
Luke shook his hand and nodded. When he returned to his room, he found a note on the floor where it had been pushed under the door.
The Rt Hon. The Comte de Maubeuge,
Your Excellency,
It appears you’ve had an interesting few days in Monaco. First our little card game, then an exciting jaunt to secure our wayward friend from Luxembourg. Unfortunately, I have to return to Paris, but I’d like to invite you to join me for dinner in the city of lights at your earliest convenience.
Yours Faithfully,
Jean-Paul Aquitaine
“Interesting,” Luke mumbled.
“What?” Rhonda asked.
He handed the note to her. “I’m going to compose a reply. Afterward, I need you to take this to Monsieur Aquitaine.
My dear Monsieur Aquitaine,
Thank you for the gracious offer. Once I ensure Mr. Heinen is safely on his way home to Luxembourg, I’ll make myself available to meet with you.
Cordially,
Pierre Luc-Thibault Archambeau
Comte de Maubeuge
He folded the note, slipped it into an envelope, and handed it to Rhonda. “Thank you. When you’re done with that. I want you to take Joe and relieve Jung-sook and Ahmed. I have a little plan that might further our cause, and I need to work it out with them.”
Rhonda grinned. “Sure thing, boss.”
Luke poured himself a glass of brandy and checked on the updates from Delilah and the team. Everything appeared to be going smoothly with their greatly reduced operations. They’d guessed a lightening of their hunting activities would hopefully create a false sense of returning safety that would allow them to be more effective once they returned to full hostilities. Last, he checked his messages from Gwen, then found another fun meme to send back.
After the door opened and shut, Ahmed cleared his throat. “Luke, you wanted to see us?”
Luke hit send and set his phone down. “Yeah. I want to assign a team to continue watching Mathis.”
Jung-sook chuckled. “Might I suggest we include a technological survey of his security system? Jamaal would be an ideal person to include on our team.”
Luke grinned at his friend. “My thoughts exactly. Do you think Rhonda is ready to step up and lead the detail?”
Jung-sook and Ahmed exchanged a look and nodded to each other.
Ahmed pulled out a chair and sat down across from Luke. “She is. She’s calm and cool under pressure. Plus, she can kick ass if she needs to. Who else do you want to send with her?”
“I’ll leave that up to you two. I think one or two more people should suffice, plus Jamaal. He can meet you in Luxembourg once you’re on the ground so you have a vehicle until the extras here make it north.”
Jung-sook pulled a bottle of sparkling water from the room’s fridge. “I take it you won’t be returning north with the rest of the team?”
Luke nodded. “You two and Charlie will accompany me to Paris. We’ve been invited to dinner by Jean-Paul Aquitaine. Pieter says he’s a man worth knowing, and I’d like to get to know him better—see if I can lure him to our side. He leads the most powerful French pack, and he’d be a useful ally. I’m not sure how, but he knows about Mathis’s kidnapping.”
Ahmed narrowed his eyes. “Hmm, hopefully he doesn’t hold too much fondness for our Luxembourgian weasel.”
“According to Pieter, they aren’t terribly close, though that could have changed in the time Pieter has been off the map. We’ll want to be cautious.” Luke stared at the liquor swirling in his glass, letting the simple repetitive motion focus him.
“Do you want to take more than just two bodyguards and a driver?” Jung-sook asked.
“That might not be a bad idea. Let’s move the rest of our team here into the Paris area. I’ll let Delilah know. Might be a good time to hit a few towns deeper in France. I don’t have any good intelligence about the vampire situation in Paris, and if things go south with Monsieur Aquitaine, it would be a good idea to have our forces within reach. Once the other team leaves Nice, turn them over to Delilah for assignment.”
“Right. Should we be worried about Le Mousquetaire? Is he in Paris?”
“As far as I know, his base is in Bordeaux and another vampire leads the Paris nest.”
“Hopefully that remains true.” Ahmed tapped a finger on the table and paused for a moment. “Is there anything else?”
Luke, eyes narrowing, thought about it for a moment. “No. I’m going to call Pieter and get a more detailed brief on the Paris packleader. Let me know when you have all the pieces in place.”
Ahmed and Jung-sook retreated to their room to set their plan in action, leaving Luke to his task. Fetching a sparkling water of his own, he twisted the top off, the bottle hissing at the release of the carbon dioxide. After sending a message to Pieter, he alternated drinking his water and his brandy while he waited for his Belgian friend to call him back. Their trip to Monaco was turning out to be far more profitable than his meager winnings at the gambling tables. With Heinrich Netzke removed from the board and Mathis Heinen fully tied up, there was one last piece that still needed to be engaged—it was time to bring Jan van den Bergh fully into play.