Inside the holding room, Nick finally managed to get Lori to sit. He stood beside her, rubbing her back in small circles. Her body was taut with tension.
Even in the room with reinforced walls that reduced outside noise, it sounded like all hell was breaking loose.
The high-caliber rifle—a real humdinger of firepower—was still making mincemeat of the third floor. An explosion rocked the building, he gauged somewhere out front. There had also been reports of an attack at the parking garage and on tactical personnel stationed at the courthouse. Yaz, Charlie and all the others were properly swamped.
It was a war zone on multiple fronts. Damn. Had Belladonna mustered an army?
Lori was an hour from testifying. They’d gone through so much to keep her alive and get to this point, Nick wasn’t going to let anything happen to her now.
The police would respond. SWAT would be on the scene to assist any minute. They were going to get through this.
Quiet fell, and Lori’s shoulders relaxed. The fusillade of semiautomatic gunfire had stopped. Maybe it was over, or being handled by SWAT.
The police were less than a mile away. They had to be here by now.
A series of beeps resounded in the hall. Someone was probably coming to give them the all clear.
The door opened and Nick’s blood turned to slush.
Even with the blond wig and stodgy suit, he recognized Belladonna in the flesh.
As he went to draw his Glock from the shoulder rig, she tossed a black bag on the table and lunged for him.
Her elbow caught him in the cheekbone, twisting his head to the side and sending pain grinding down his face and into his teeth.
Lori gasped, hopping up and scrambling back against the wall.
With a lightning move, Belladonna torqued his gun hand, threw a knee to his gut and disarmed him. His weapon clattered to the floor. In the struggle, he reached out to grab her, but only ended up with a handful of the wig and ripped it from her head.
She launched a fist at his windpipe, stealing his breath. But he managed to throw a quick jab to her face.
Belladonna reeled back into a reverse flip. Her rising feet, coming up like pistons, caught him square in the chin, snapping his head up. Momentum threw him backward into the wall.
Nick took a ragged breath, marveling at how badly he’d underestimated Belladonna’s fighting skills. She landed softly on the balls of her feet, whipping out a left hook at his head.
A raw-numb tingling exploded in his eye, leaving him dazed. Instinct kept him moving and blocking. Belladonna pressed her advantage, unleashing a blitzkrieg of punches and kicks.
Somehow, he shoved her off, gaining space to defend himself.
They hammered each other with bare-knuckle blasts. Nick outweighed her and had more force behind his blows. But she was faster and better trained at hand-to-hand. He wouldn’t last much longer before she trapped him in some deadly grip. Broke his arm. Snapped his neck.
Then that would be the endgame.
Getting to his gun was the only answer.
He spotted it under the table. Flinging a chair at her, he dove for it, his fingertips grazing the handle before Belladonna drove a heel into his kidneys and sent the gun skittering.
Nick’s back throbbed where he’d been kicked. His eyes watered from the blow.
Lori made a play for the gun, the floral dress fluttering around her legs. Nick pushed up from the floor.
Belladonna was a blur of movement, rolling across the table.
Lori grabbed the gun and lifted it to fire. But the assassin kicked it from her grasp and sent it flying in the air.
As Nick jumped up and to the side for the weapon, Belladonna whirled, snatching Lori.
They faced each other in a standoff, panting.
Nick had the gun, safety off, finger on the trigger. And Belladonna had Lori positioned in front of her like a human shield and a dagger-sharp hairpin to Lori’s throat. The assassin’s black hair had tumbled loose, falling freely, almost curtaining what little of her face was exposed.
Belladonna pressed the pointed tip of the deadly instrument to Lori’s carotid artery.
Nick made eye contact with Lori. Her face was stark with fear.
Panic swelled in his chest. He held the gun rock steady, but he didn’t have a clear shot.
He shifted his gaze to the assassin. “Kill her and I kill you.” He issued the imperative statement of fact without letting the fear flooding him leak into his voice, his tone glacial.
“I know.” The utter lack of concern from Belladonna sent a trickle of cold sweat down Nick’s spine. Then she said, “But I don’t want to die today. I have a proposal.”
It was some kind of trick, had to be. “I’m just supposed to trust that, after you’ve relentlessly pursued us with every intention of ending both our lives?”
“I used halothane on the people in the conference room. I could’ve used it on you two instead. Once you were out cold, I could’ve killed Lori and fled.”
Nick narrowed his eyes at her. “Then why didn’t you?”
“My personal circumstances have changed. I have one chance to break free of Dante Vargas. And this is it, but I need your help.”
His heart stuttered at the turnabout. “What? You’re insane if you think I’m going to help you.”
“I have a family and he’s threatened their lives unless I kill her.” Belladonna nudged the sharp tip against Lori’s throat, drawing a drop of blood.
Starbursts of red exploded behind his eyes, and he clenched the gun tighter, praying for enough clearance between the two women to put a bullet in Belladonna’s head.
“Dante has promised to release me from his service if I follow through, but he is the prince of lies,” Belladonna said. “He’ll never free me. And if I don’t get out, then one day, he’ll claim my daughter, too. I can’t let that happen. So I have a proposal. One where we both win.”
“You made several attempts on my life, her life,” Nick said through clenched teeth. “Who knows how many good people are dying right now under the siege you started outside? And you’ve already murdered one deputy at our safe house. I don’t see a scenario where we can both win.”
Mentally, he sifted through options, his mind scrambling to think of a way to get Lori through this alive. Even if he signaled Lori to take some action, throw an elbow back into Belladonna, anything to get distance between them so he could get a shot, it wouldn’t work.
Belladonna wasn’t flush to Lori, leaving her ribs exposed to an attack. She stood at an angle as if anticipating some countermove.
“Lucky for us both, I do,” Belladonna said. “Lori lives and testifies. That’s the win you want. I leave, you put the word out that a female suspect meeting my description was killed making an attempt on her life, and I give you the name of your traitor. That’s the win I want. You should want that, too.”
“I know who the traitor is. Will Draper.”
“Really?” Her granite expression shifted. “Do you have proof?” A ghost of a smile stretched across Belladonna’s tight face. “I do. Look in my bag. Middle compartment.”
Nick kept the gun raised and backpedaled to the table. Not taking his eyes off Belladonna, he felt for the compartment. It was open. He pulled out a laptop.
“Do you recognize the serial number?” she asked.
His gaze bounced between the assassin and the computer. He turned it over and checked the number. His blood turned cold.
Belladonna flipped open the badge hanging around her neck, showing him the ID. “Your traitor is Ted Zeeman. Not Will Draper.”
His mind reeled, the breath in his lungs stalled. “We have Ted’s body in the morgue.”
“No. The body you have in the morgue was planted in your safe house by one of my people. On the laptop, I’ve downloaded Ted’s dental records and the records for the person in the morgue.”
Nick shook his head in disbelief, blowing out a shaky breath.
“Who do you want more? Me, someone who is being coerced and threatened? Or Ted Zeeman? Someone you trusted, who betrayed you for money. The morning of your trip to the mall, Ted gave me the address to the safe house and left his badge and laptop for one of my people in the trash bin outside. When the attempt at the mall failed, he called me from a convenience store to find out the contingency plan. He let you walk into that house, thinking neither of you would be walking back out.
“We used his laptop to breach your system. Dante Vargas has the WITSEC list and the names of every deputy marshal. Ted facilitated that. He’s the one who put a roving bug on your cell phone for me, so I could not only track you but also listen to all your calls. He also gave me the details about your protocol and procedures. How do you think I was able to get in here? Whose PIN do you think I used to open that door?”
Fury beat in Nick’s chest like the wings of a startled bird. “You know where Ted is?”
“Yes. I arranged his transportation out of the country and can tell you exactly where to find him, a beautiful white sand beach. I want Lori to live. I want her to testify, to hurt Vargas and the cartel. I also want to disappear with my family. So I’ll ask you again. Who do you want more? Me? Or backstabbing Ted?”
If he had to make a choice, there was no contest. This was personal. He wanted to rip Ted’s head off.
“A draw is a good thing,” Belladonna said with that silver tongue, in her honeyed voice. “No more bloodshed. I’ll stop the siege outside.”
And he could end the assault going on outside, possibly save lives? It was the only choice. “Deal.”
“Put your gun on the floor. Kick it away and I’ll release her.”
Belladonna could’ve used halothane on them, killed Lori and left. But she hadn’t because maybe her story about her family and wanting freedom from Vargas was true. Nick did as she instructed and raised his palms.
“If Will Draper gives you a hard time about going along with our deal and my death isn’t reported in the news as we’ve agreed, tell that bastard I’ll come for him and I promise he’ll die screaming.”
Nick nodded. He was okay with that.
“Ted is in the Maldives. I downloaded his address and imagery of the island onto the laptop, as well.”
“How did you know how this was going to play out? That I’d agree?”
“It’s a talent of mine.” She punched in the code, unlocking the door, and opened it.
Releasing Lori, Belladonna touched her ear. That was when he spotted the comms device.
“Echo Sierra,” she said, letting the door close.
Nick grabbed his gun, contemplating going after her. A second later the power was cut, trapping them inside the room. Effectively eliminating that option.
In the darkness, Nick found Lori and hauled her into his arms. “When she had you with that spike to your throat, I died a thousand deaths.”
He felt her tears on his cheeks. Then again, he couldn’t be certain he wasn’t the one crying. Gratitude and relief tangled through him and he squeezed her tighter, not wanting to ever let her go.
The power came back and he stared at Lori in the light. Her eyes were glassy and her face damp. He cupped her cheeks and pressed his forehead to hers.
“Oh, God,” she said on a catch of breath. Lori nestled closer, her fingers clutching his back. “I wasn’t ready. For this to be it.”
“I know.” He kissed her lips, tasting the salt of their mingled tears. The thought of her coming so close to death still made his heart contract.
“You saved my life again.” Her voice was rough with emotion.
“Didn’t really have much choice. That’s the job.”
She laughed and cried at the same time. “Stop saying that.”
“Okay.” He wiped away her tears with his thumb. “You’re more than a witness to me. You have been for months. I can’t say exactly when it happened, but I’m so in love with you that—”
Beeps chimed in the hall.
Nick and Lori pulled apart but stayed close.
The holding room door opened, and Yazzie crossed the threshold, eyeing them both. “You two are both okay, good. Charlie is helping the others in the conference room. They were hit with some kind of sleeping gas, but they’re waking up.” His voice was hesitant as his gaze flickered between them like he was picking up on their energy. “The attacks stopped. They just pulled back and left. The police are in pursuit.”
“I gathered,” Nick said. “We lose anyone?”
“No. Lots of injuries, but everyone is going to live. Draper is conscious. He wants eyes on the witness right now.”
“Yeah, okay. I need to talk to him anyway. There have been some developments.”
TESTIFYING HAD LIFTED a great load from Lori’s shoulders. But when new marshals waited for her outside the courtroom, the weight was quickly replaced by a different strain.
“Can you give us one minute?” Nick asked the deputies there to relocate her.
They both nodded and stepped a few feet away.
Keeping her alive, getting her on the stand, was always going to lead here, but she hadn’t had time to think about it. Until now.
“They won’t tell me where you’re going,” he said low. “Protocol.” He slipped her a piece of paper, his fingertips brushing hers, lingering. “When you’re able to, provided you want to, call me.”
She’d spent every day with this man for a year and didn’t even know his phone number. Something about that made her heart ache. “Of course I want to. I will as soon as I can.”
“I won’t be able to come to you right away. It’ll be a little while before I can see you.”
Her chest tightened. “Why?”
One of the deputies waiting leveled a reproving glance at them, and he dropped his hand from hers.
“I’m on a plane to the Maldives tomorrow. We don’t have an extradition treaty with them, but Draper doesn’t give a damn any more than I do. I’m going to bring Ted back and he’s going to answer for what he’s done.”
“Is Draper going to honor Belladonna’s request?” She discreetly tucked his phone number in her bra.
Nick nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “It didn’t take much convincing after I passed along Belladonna’s message.”
“Once you bring Ted back, you’ll come to see me?”
Nick glanced over at the deputies coming toward them. “No. I need to wait until they have you settled and back off. A few weeks at most. I swear.”
Earnestness gleamed in his whiskey-brown eyes and echoed in his words.
“McKenna, we can’t give you any longer. The SOG unit is waiting to escort us to make sure we don’t run into any problems along the way.”
“Okay,” Nick said, taking a step back, his brow creased. “Lori...kharabetam.”
She knew the word was Farsi but didn’t have a clue what it meant.
With a deputy positioned on either side of her, Lori put one foot in front of the other and walked away from the only man she’d ever truly loved.
Each step she took deepened the ache swelling in her chest. A torrent of emotions whirled through her and she didn’t know how much more upheaval she could handle before falling apart. And for the next few weeks, she’d have to hold it together without Nick.
Nick.
Lori spun around, breaking away from the deputies, ignoring their questions, and ran back to Nick. She stopped short of grabbing him and kissing him and making an even bigger spectacle. “Kharabetam. What does it mean?”
He gave her a warm smile, his eyes radiating love. “I’ll tell you the next time we’re face-to-face and I’m free to kiss you.”
“You sure do know how to leave a woman hanging.”
“Well, I’ve got to keep you thinking about me someway.”
“Trust me. No effort at all on your part is required.”
One of the deputies took her by the elbow, and they escorted her away.