Levi Green hadn’t come alone, but the team surrounding him was different this time. When Robert and his team had walked out of the office door, they’d found themselves completely surrounded.
“Mercenaries?” He had his hands up as the group of six heavily armed men worked to pull the weapons off his body.
The man who’d been assigned to him took his second pistol and grunted something to one of the others in German. Or a language like it. He studied them carefully. They didn’t move like a group that had worked together for years. The two dealing with Jax seemed to be having an argument.
The man who’d just patted Tucker down glanced Robert’s way. “It’s none of your business.”
Peter or Solo would have known if Levi was working with German intelligence, so logic told him these men were mercenaries. The previous times they’d gone up against Levi, he’d either been surrounded by a military special ops team or had Agency backup. Why was he working with mercenaries? The good news was they could handle mercenaries.
“I hope everyone understands that we’re dealing with a group of paid contractors and not US or German military,” Robert said.
Jax nodded. “Yes, I got that.”
“I did, too.” Owen’s low growl sounded like a promise.
A large man was rifling through his bag. “We used to be German military. Don’t think we’re amateurs.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” It was good to have confirmation.
Tucker merely nodded his way. They all understood they didn’t have to be careful. They would be very reluctant to go hard at US soldiers who were simply doing their job. Those soldiers weren’t briefed on which part of the Agency they were working for. A Special Forces team didn’t receive pamphlets educating them on what an asshole their boss was. They did their job, and Robert wasn’t about to kill them over it.
But a mercenary was just in it for the money, which meant his men could fight with everything they had.
“You will take the package to the boss.” The head of this particular group pointed a gun at Tucker.
“I’m going with him.” He glanced at Owen. “I will bring her back. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Owen’s jaw was tight, and the look on his face let Robert know he would find a way to get clear of his captors. Still, he nodded. “See that you do. And watch your back. I don’t like this at all.”
He knew exactly what Owen was worried about. Why bother to force them to march down to the lab when Levi could easily have been waiting right outside the doors with his hired army? Why all this drama when all Levi needed to do was reach out and take the bag in Tucker’s hands?
Because he was planning something. He wanted something beyond the files, or he had a plan in case he didn’t get them.
He looked at Tucker and nodded again and then started for the elevator. There wasn’t anything to do. Rebecca was down there and they had to walk into the trap or they could lose her.
Ariel wouldn’t be happy with him if he got shot again. She’d been there the first time Levi had shot him.
Don’t you die on me. Don’t you dare die on me.
Those were the words he’d come to consciousness to in that field in Canada when Levi had first taken Rebecca and Owen into custody and shot him. Ariel had managed to get him out of the car, stabilized him, and then she’d broken down. His angel had been crying when he’d finally managed to fight his way back. And he’d heard the quiet words she said. They’d been like a prayer from her lips.
I love you.
He’d just remembered. She had said the words to him. God, he wasn’t going to let today be the last time between them. No. He would get back to her and make her understand why he’d done what he’d done. He would hang around until she forgave him.
If he survived.
He followed the three men escorting he and Tucker. Tucker had slung the bag over his left shoulder, leaving his dominant hand ready if he needed to use it. He glanced Robert’s way as if to say you know we could still take them.
He and Tucker had always had this shorthand. From the day they’d met, somehow he’d been closer to Tucker than the rest. Theo had been his closest friend and Tucker had Jax, but there had always been this weird connection between the two of them.
He wouldn’t have been able to allow Tucker to do this alone. It was a damn good thing Levi Green had realized that. But then Levi might not have known that Jax was coming, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to deal with Owen, so Robert had been his only choice.
“Why you?” The elevator was moving toward the fourth floor.
“Why me?” Tucker’s eyes were on the display above the doors, marking each floor they moved past. “Why would he want me to bring the bag?”
“He specifically asked for you. Why would he do that? Why not let me handle the whole thing?”
“You should concentrate on getting out of this alive,” one of the mercenaries said.
Tucker glanced Robert’s way. “He wants something from me.”
“Don’t you be a fucking martyr,” Robert ordered.
The doors opened and the man behind him pushed Robert forward. He stumbled and found his footing. Up ahead he saw a wall made entirely of glass. This part of the building was sleek and ultra-modern. There was a reception desk to his side, but it was empty. The whole place was eerily quiet, and up ahead he could see Levi Green standing in the middle of the lab. He wore what Robert liked to think of as his asshole working outfit. All black, with a bulletproof vest over his chest and a ballcap on his head. It told Robert he was taking this scene seriously and Robert should too.
The mercenary at the front of their group swiped a card over the reader and the glass doors opened with an audible swoosh. The lab was white, almost too bright given how dark the night beyond was. Not that he could tell. The shades were drawn, giving him the impression of being inside an egg. Everything here was white, from the walls to the long desks to the laptops. To his left there was another set of doors that seemed to lead deeper into the lab.
McDonald’s labs had been like this. White and always scrubbed clean, though there would be moments when blood would drop to the cold floor, stark red against all that purity.
He couldn’t let that be Tucker’s blood this time.
“I meant what I said.” He muttered the words under his breath as his heart rate ticked up and the adrenaline started to flow. “Don’t you dare walk into that room with even the slightest thought of not coming back out.”
“I’m going to do what I have to do,” Tucker said with grim resolve. “I’ll trade myself for Rebecca if that’s what he wants.”
“Why would he want that?” Rebecca was the prize here. Rebecca was the one who could look through the research and put things together for Levi. Tucker’s medical skills were buried deep, and they came out at the oddest of times. When he was under stress, Tucker could do some amazing things, but Robert wasn’t sure he could study research and come up with the same things Rebecca could.
So why Tucker? For that matter, why the two of them?
Whatever happened he would have the answers very soon.
* * * *
Ariel strode toward the lift, leaving the sleeping guard behind. She had no way of knowing how long the man had been out, but she knew who to blame. She and Ezra and Solo had only made it as far as the parking garage of the building, but she already knew she was in the right place. “They’re here.”
Ezra followed her inside. “Let’s hope they’ve managed to take them all out the way they did that one. He’s still alive at least. I’m sick of dealing with dead bodies.”
“Hey, at least Emily was pretty easy to carry.” Kim was the only one who seemed comfortable with their mission. “I had to bury a six-foot, seven-inch Russian operative once. He didn’t fit in the trunk at all. Shop class came in handy that day.”
The doors closed but didn’t move. Ariel reached out to push the button that would keep the lift in place while they decided what to do.
Ezra’s eyes slid his ex-wife’s way, and Ariel didn’t miss the way his lips curled up before he schooled his expression again. “We know the safe they’re looking for is on floor twenty-two. I say we go up to twenty and use the stairs the rest of the way.”
Ariel’s heart nearly stopped when the panel overhead shifted.
She immediately brought her weapon up, ready to shoot whoever had been hitching a ride on this lift. Kim and Ezra had gone into similar positions.
“Hey, guys, how about you don’t shoot.” A familiar voice floated down. “I’m just your friendly neighborhood Taggart.”
Theo Taggart lowered himself down and dropped into the lift.
Ariel relaxed. “How the hell did you make it here so fast? I assume Rob called you in.”
Theo was dressed for an op. He’d pushed back the black balaclava that would have covered his face and allowed him to disappear in the shadows. “I was already in Germany. I came over to do some research into Emily Seeger’s background. I had just checked into the hotel when Rob called. I’m his secret weapon. But I might be so secret I’m ineffective. We don’t have comms, so I’m not exactly sure where the guys are.”
“Hey, I’m Solo. It’s a name and a state of being,” Kim said with a flirty smile.
Theo reached out a hand to shake hers. “Theo, though my nickname is Taken.”
“And his wife likes to shoot people,” Ezra pointed out with a grumpy look on his face.
“Then I’m sure we could be friends.” Kim let go of the handsome Taggart’s hand. “Sorry. I’m trying to get back in the dating game. It’s just a little practice.”
Ezra turned to his ex. “Seriously, we’re on a mission and you’re trolling for a date?”
She shrugged. “We’re always on a mission. It’s not like I can really get on Tinder.”
“You’re impossible.” Ezra gave Theo his full attention. “What do you know about this cluster fuck of an op?”
“I know it’s not going the way Rob hoped,” Theo replied.
“Levi’s here.” Her stomach took a deep dive.
Theo nodded. “He is, but there’s something going on. I infiltrated the building a few hours ago. I’ve been in the ventilation system trying to get a lay of the land, so to speak. I found an excellent perch above the security offices where I watched the cameras. Levi came in with a team of twelve men I’m fairly certain he picked up at Mercenaries ’r Us. I would warn Rob, but like I said, they had to go in without communications. They pulled this together very quickly.”
“Levi’s not working with a black ops team?” Ezra asked.
“No, and that’s the funny thing,” Theo replied. “Because I have some friends who told me there’s actually a team in town.”
“If there is a black ops team in Munich that would be classified,” Kim said.
Ezra’s eyes narrowed as he focused in on his ex-wife. “What do you know about it?”
“I don’t, but I would like to know who is leaking classified information.” Kim was no longer looking at Theo like he was a potential way to poke at Ezra. She was now taking the man very seriously.
“I’ll never tell,” Theo promised. “But I will say I’m worried that there’s a team in town but Levi chose to work with a bunch of contractors.”
“Levi is having trouble with his bosses because the methods he’s using are attracting too much attention,” Kim explained. “I would bet he doesn’t want a team with him because the team tends to be debriefed at some point. They’ll answer questions he would rather avoid. Which makes me wonder what he’s doing in the first place. How advanced is this safe?”
Theo shrugged. “I could have done the job myself if I’d had a little C-4. Rob knows I’m here. Jax is here, too.”
“Of course he is,” Ezra said with a little growl.
Theo ignored him. “Jax is with the others, but I didn’t get to them before they went in to blow the safe. I’m afraid Levi is going to take them all into custody. I know where Levi is and where he’s holding Rebecca. It’s a lab on the fourth floor, but it’s better protected than the rest of the building. The ventilation system is completely different and I don’t fit. None of us will. If we’re going in, we have to use the door, and those are heavily guarded.”
“We wouldn’t be having this problem if Robert had done what he said he was going to do,” Ezra groused.
“You know why he did it.” Ariel was still angry with him, but she understood who Robert was deep down. He would always have wound up here because he couldn’t make the smart play when it came to his friends. He would do anything for them. It was one of the reasons she loved him.
“We need to get someone on the inside,” Theo said. “It can’t be me. They would shoot first and ask questions never. I think we send in Ari. Levi will underestimate her.”
“I doubt that after our last meeting.” As much as she wanted to be the one to go in, she knew it couldn’t be her. “Besides, you send me in and Robert’s objectives change. Honestly, my objectives would be in question, too. I would put him first. Saving his life is my only mission here.”
Kim stepped up. “I’ll go. I’ll let them take me in. Do you know what kinds of restraints they’re carrying?”
“No, I’ll go. I’ll be more of a distraction,” Ezra offered.
Kim moved in front of him and her expression had taken on a gravity Ariel rarely saw there. “He will kill you, babe. He’ll shoot you dead, and I can’t live with that. He won’t hurt me. He’ll keep me alive.”
“Kim’s right.” Ariel couldn’t let Ezra go in. He wasn’t thinking straight, and she understood why. “Levi’s proven time and time again that he won’t kill Kim.”
“I can deal with him,” Kim said, practically pleading.
Ezra’s face went cold. “Of course you can. All right, then. We make our way to the floor below where Robert is working. If Levi is going to come after them, he’ll pick them up right outside the office. He won’t let them get on the elevator again without an escort.”
“I’ll walk into the situation, let them take me. They’re counting on maybe three guys,” Kim mused.
Ariel took up her line of thought. “They weren’t counting on Jax, and they probably still don’t know about Theo. Taking you into custody takes men off the rest of them. It gives us a much better shot. Theo, do we know how many Levi has with him in the lab?”
“He’s got six with him in the lab,” Theo replied. “The other six have been on the move, but I would bet now that Robert is in the building, they’re waiting for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already in custody. I don’t know if he’ll want them all in the lab or not. I wouldn’t if I was Levi.”
“We won’t know until we try.” Ariel took a deep breath. “Kim, are you sure?”
She nodded. “I’ll go up to twenty-two. We drop you off at twenty-one. If Levi is keeping them there, you three free them. I’m going to bet my life that they’ll take me down to the lab. You free whoever is left.”
“Then we’ll storm that damn lab the first chance we get.” Ezra pushed the button to release the lift. He touched the buttons for the twenty-first and twenty-second floors. “Let’s get our guys.”
Her guy. She prayed she got to him in time.