part0063

S avage scowled as he looked around with real distaste. The street was way too crowded for comfort. He didn’t like being out in the open with so many people around him. It made him feel exposed and vulnerable with the overwhelming barrage of bodies, sounds, shapes, and colors that flashed incessantly in his vision. If there were ever a time where he and Anderson were more vulnerable, he didn’t recall it. If anyone intended to hit them, it would be there.

There had been no news on any changes in the contract on Anderson yet, he reminded himself. Not from Anja, at least. He doubted that Courtney would want them to be left out of the loop on something so important as a hit on her partner in Pegasus, but she was deep in corporate cover, and honestly, he didn’t know her very well. He had no clue what kind of greater good she would consider to be worth it to leave Anderson dangling.

It occurred to him that what they were doing was basically dangling the man and keeping him on the move to keep him safe. Maybe something done to allow for a larger picture wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

It would still be a dick move to keep them out of the loop, but that could simply be his overanxious caution at work. They were compiling data on Stafford like they had done with Carlson, and to move too soon would be plain stupid. Also, he had no doubt that Anja would notify him the moment she picked up on any direct threat.

“How are your ribs feeling?” Anderson asked and stepped a little closer.

He looked at his boss and retained his scowl as he tried to convey his irritation. The man had hung around like he wanted to make sure he was okay, and while he appreciated the sentiment, he also had to know that hovering while he was getting better was detrimental to his progress.

“It’s fine,” he assured him finally and took a step to put a little distance between them. “I’m a little sore and still recovering. These wraps don’t do much for my mobility and— Look, man, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to be around me all the damn time. I think my body knows how to recover on its own by now.”

“Have I been too clingy?” Anderson made a face. “Come on, man, you should have told me. I’ve been like this ever since Damon got sick and they told me to stay with him. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, and again, I appreciate the sentiment.” He nodded brusquely. “But honestly, I think I simply need some help from a nurse. And not one who’s found in a hospital, if you know what I mean.”

His boss narrowed his eyes. “Wait, you want one of the nurses they send to nursing homes?”

“They send strippers to nursing homes?” They adjusted their route to walk toward the building across the street from them. There were still too many people around—an uncomfortable number of people, actually—and he hoped the new destination might ease that.

“Wait…come on. That was a joke,” Anderson said and shook his head vehemently.

“Yeah, I know, but you suck at it since you gave up so easily.” He grinned and nudged the man in the shoulder.

“Wait, how many strippers have you slept with?”

“Do you want an actual number?” Savage frowned as he considered it. “I…well, I don’t remember any from when I was married, so that’s easy. And it wasn’t too many overall, I don’t think. Maybe one or two at bachelor parties. No—no, damn it, not my own.” He snarled the protest when he saw Anderson’s grin and knew exactly where his mind was going. “Not at my own. I would never have done that. Anyway, after the divorce, I spent most of my time overseas so didn’t actually get much time here. Not that many in total, after all. More than most folks, though, I suppose.”

His boss shrugged. “First of all, I wasn’t going to say you cheated on your ex-wife with a stripper at your bachelor party. I thought I’d put that out there. Secondly, well… You know what, never mind.”

“Oh my, have I stumbled on something of a fetish of yours?”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I don’t know.” Savage shrugged. “You seemed focused on the strippers so I thought it might be something you wanted but were afraid to bring up with Ivy. Do you think that, once we’re finished with this, we could go to a strip club and maybe work out what you want? That way, you will have built up the courage to encourage Ivy to do it.”

Anderson narrowed his eyes at him but paused when they reached the entrance. “But you’re the one who brought strippers up. Why… I…I don’t feel comfortable talking about my wife like that to you. Sorry.”

Savage shook his head apologetically. “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. You seem a little uptight and in need of relaxation. I’ve met Ivy, and she seems like an encouraging woman who wouldn’t mind trying out new things with you.”

The ex-colonel dragged in a deep breath as he looked around as if afraid someone might overhear them. “I mean…sure, whatever. Ivy is the best, and yeah, I have hang-ups of my own that I’m not comfortable addressing with anyone, including you.”

“Again, I don’t want to pry.” He placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “And it’s not like I’m a relationship expert or anything like that. Far from it. You and Ivy seem as strong as ever. I’m sorry, I don’t want to intrude. It started out as a joke and got a little closer to reality than I intended.”

Anderson chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, man, and I appreciate the concern. It’s not like you don’t have some good points.”

“I’d go easy on suggesting that your wife strip for you, though,” he added as they stepped inside the club. “Pro advice. Build up to it, you know? Ivy probably won’t slap you, but I’ve been slapped for the suggestion. Keep that in mind.”

His companion laughed. “Thanks, Savage. I think I needed this.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He felt better for having his weapon tucked into his under-shoulder holster, although he doubted that he would have time to use it in these kinds of close quarters. Precious milliseconds would be lost in simply bringing it to bear effectively. Still, its solid presence made him feel a little less vulnerable. His left hand hovered around the knife secreted under his belt for quick access. He sincerely hoped he wouldn’t need it.

Stepping inside revealed very little that he couldn’t already guess from the outside. New Orleans was one of those cities that was usually in a state of celebration. Of course, the time for Mardi Gras was long past, but that didn’t mean people couldn’t celebrate around it. Tourism was a huge money-maker for this city, and when the weekend rolled around, people liked to have a good time without needing a calendar-based excuse for it.

Shots were distributed while lively pop music covers were played by a live band. A section had been partitioned off, which indicated that a DJ would take over when the band needed a break. This wasn’t the kind of place Savage usually frequented since the loud noise tended to give him a headache over time. Still, he could understand the appeal for people who were about a decade younger than he was.

“Fuck, I’m old,” he grumbled as they made their way through the busy interior.

“Come on, thirty-two isn’t that old,” Anderson retorted. “You’re right at the peak of experience and physical viability. I really don’t know what you’re complaining about.”

“I’m simply shaking my cane at the youngsters and shouting at them to get off my lawn, is all.” His mood improved a little when one of the dancing women sidled up against him. “Then again…”

His enjoyment vanished, however, when he realized a couple of security people now waded through the crowded dance floor to reach them.

“I’m sorry, sirs, but I’ll have to ask the two of you to come with me, please,” the female bouncer said calmly. The girl who tried to get his attention made a move to tell the woman to shove off, but the sight of a gun in her holster was enough to make her back down. It also immediately got the duo interested in seeing what it was that they wanted.

If worse came to worst, Savage still had his knife. The woman’s holster had a buckle that still held the gun in place, and the safety was on too. It wasn’t the safest situation to be in, but it wasn’t untenable, at least for now. If things started to go south, he would make sure Anderson was out of the way before he stepped in. He wore some of that new light and useful body armor, but his idiot boss didn’t.

He had given him all the nasty looks and nagging he could before they left the hotel. At one point, he’d even told him directly to go back to his room and get some body armor, hoping the words and attitude might trigger the dad in him and remind him that he’d likely said much the same thing to Damon more than once. But damn, the man was stubborn. Not only that, he was the boss. Aside from physically manhandling him into a suit, there really had been nothing more he could do. He had to assume there was a reason, even though it made no sense and his job a lot harder. If they ended up in a firefight, Anderson would have to stay back and let Savage handle it.

They were led from inside the dance floor to a flight of stairs that ascended to what looked like a VIP section of the club. The area was closed off with its own personal DJ and a group of mostly women danced in an open section.

There were three booths, each stood in a corner of the square room, where some of the other patrons were drinking, eating, or indulged in a card game. He wondered vaguely how they could hear each other over the dance music. Maybe they had some sort of sound isolator in there that kept the music out? He wasn’t sure if that even existed, but with all the technical advances, you couldn’t really be sure. So much new tech was coming out and even more these days with the Zoo out there to provide more and more surprises.

Savage glanced at the fourth corner to the back and left of the room and immediately realized why they were there. The booth there was larger and more expansive and appeared to be a more private and exclusive VIP room with its own security. Five people sat in comfortable chairs, four of them women and dressed as skimpily as they could possibly be while still vaguely described as dressed. One man lounged in the back, his arms around two of the ladies.

“Alvarez,” he said cheerfully. “Is that you?”

The man looked up from his companions and grinned broadly when he saw the two men who had been brought in. “If it isn’t the savage. How the hell are you?”

He gestured at the two armed bouncers beside him and another in front. “Right now, I’ll go with confused.”

“Oh, come on, man.” The Mexican chuckled. “You did me a favor at home. Setting the record straight put me in good standing with my superiors. You know how I hired you to get rid of this Charles man who’s given us so much trouble? You’ve made your way through the world and I have to say, my organization really approves of your initiative.”

“No…hard feelings then?”

“The way I see it, you’re saving us money.” Alvarez indicated for the two men to step inside. “I’m sorry, but my people won’t let you enter without searching you first. I assume you came in armed?”

Savage nodded. “Of course.”

Anderson’s glance suggested caution. He obviously wondered if he knew what he was doing, and he nodded assurance. If it ended poorly, it wasn’t like the man would be able to say I told you so.

The bouncers moved in brusquely and, in Anderson’s case anyway, professionally to frisk them for weapons. The female bouncer looked like she was taking her sweet time as she ran her fingers down the operative’s chest and his shoulders and drew his pistol out of his pocket suggestively.

His eyes widened when her hands wandered into areas that were unlikely to contain any weapons. “Will you buy me a drink after this?”

She didn’t respond but backed away from him quickly. Without meeting his eyes, she gestured that he was clear to go. She hadn’t seen the knife hidden in his belt buckle, which was encouraging. It was a two-inch blade that he could pull out in a pinch. It obviously wouldn’t do much damage, but if the aim was to kill Alvarez before he was murdered himself, it would do nicely. Revenge was always sweetest when it couldn’t be returned.

Savage dropped easily into a seat beside the Mexican. Anderson, for his part, looked rather uncomfortable about the situation, and he really couldn’t blame him. They were in an isolated place with a cartel boss who had reason to want them dead.

“So, I’ve tracked your actions through the US,” their host said with a furtive glance around him. He also kept his voice low, which was encouraging. “To be honest, you have a very particular…style. We have all that talk about gang violence in our country, but the savage makes us look like girl scouts, am I right… What was your name again?”

“James,” Anderson said softly like he wanted as little to do with the conversation as possible. “And yes, you are, in fact, right.”

Alvarez grinned and sipped lazily before continuing. “I’d like to know how close you gentlemen are to catching this Charles. I need something to report back since I have it on record that you are working for us toward that goal.”

“Here’s the situation, Al.” The operative leaned in closer and spoke in a confidential tone. “We intercepted one of his inside men and he told us he was supposed to make a drop here. I honestly didn’t know that you would be here to receive it.”

Undeterred, the cartel boss chuckled. “I see. So, it was in the stars for us to cross paths again, my friend. We were told to wait here for some geek scientist who comes periodically with information and…well, tidbits we’re not supposed to ask questions about and merely pass along. We’re also not supposed to ask questions about where we send them. We merely call a number, and someone comes in and takes it away.”

“Okay, here’s what you’ll do. We’ll get a drink, stick around for a couple of songs, and then we’ll leave. Once we’re done, you’ll call that number. They’ll ask you what data you have, and you say you have information instead. Tell them you know they’re looking for a man named James Anderson and that he’s staying at the Palm Hotel on the intersection between Wood and 49th . We’ll be there, and we’ll be waiting for them.”

Anderson glared at him, clearly alarmed at the amount of information he had shared. It was the reaction he had been waiting for, of course. It would get Alvarez’s attention and make him realize that James was actually this James Anderson. The ploy was something of a gamble, but based on his past interaction with the man, he thought the chances of it paying off were good. They seemed to be under the heel of this Charles character, and he guessed that Alvarez wanted to get him and his organization out from under that heel more than they wanted a single payout, however tempting it might be.

He also counted on the cartel boss having a very clear recollection of what had happened on his visit to Mexico. He would hopefully assume that turning on Savage now would end with a lot of bodies, including his own. Self-preservation was one hell of a motivational tool.

The man sent him a measured look and smiled. “You would do this for me?”

“Hey, I figured I owe you one for my shenanigans in getting you to hire me. Besides, I really don’t want to repay half the down you shot my way and I won’t give you the other half. We already discussed this, but that’s gone on expenses. You know how it is, right?”

“Of course, my friend. Now that we are done with business, how about we have that drink, eh?”

“Do you mind if we get our weapons back?” Anderson asked, his eyebrow raised.

“Sure, why not? We are all professionals here, yes?”

“Yes.” Savage smiled as the bouncer handed his pistol back, and he tucked it quickly into its holster. “You really need to talk about professionalism in your own crew, though. They missed something the first time around.”

The man narrowed his eyes when Savage tugged out the small knife that was secreted into his belt buckle. “Well, I thank you for pointing it out, and it will be brought up later when we’re alone.”