Page 52 of Out of Control

“He seemed afraid of the other man.”

“Of course he did. The man had a gun pointed at him.”

She shook her head. “No. It was as if the man was… important.”

Spencer’s gaze lifted to his again, and they shared a moment of silent communication.Surely not.No way would Khoury’s old cell leader, Jabril Hamza, have come here in person to kill Khoury.

Too bad there wasn’t a way to hear what the men had said in the moments before Khoury’s death—

Drago lurched away from the wall and asked urgently, “Lena. Do you know if that night was recorded?” He pointed at the corner where the camera was installed.

The girl shook her head. “Eva destroyedallthe tapes. She couldn’t risk exposing her clients that way. And she was plenty mad about it too. I think maybe she blackmails some people.”

Damn.

In that quiet, easy tone that seemed to reassure Lena, Spencer said, “Can you describe what the shooter looked like? We think he may want to hurt us, and we’re trying to find him first.”

“He had black hair and skin like Khoury. He was thinner than Fayez and wore a suit. But that’s all I saw. As soon as Fayez got off of me, I rolled off the bed and crawled under it. I didn’t see much after that.”

“Good thinking. Smart,” Spencer complimented her.

“I do have something, though,” she said shyly. “Maybe it would help you.”

“Anything would be great,” Spencer replied.

She climbed out of bed and squatted down on the far side of the bed, out of sight of the camera. Drago moved swiftly to keep her in sight and was in time to see her struggling to pry up a floorboard with a nail file. He jumped forward to help her, and his stronger fingers made short work of lifting the board.

She reached inside the gap and pulled out a plastic shopping bag. “Here. You can have it.”

Drago opened the bag and stared in disbelief. “Were these Khoury’s?”

She nodded and rose to her feet along with him. He peeled off another several hundred euros from his greatly diminished roll of bills and handed them to her on the spot. “Lena, you’ve been incredibly helpful. Can we walk you out of the house?”

She nodded, grabbed a duffel bag from under the bed, and hastily stuffed clothing and toiletries into it.

He glanced over at Spencer. “Clear the hall, will you?”

Spencer moved to the door and cracked it open. “Clear,” he whispered.

Assuming Talia had paid off the guard by now, they should be able to exit the building without any trouble.

“Stay behind me,” Spencer muttered to the girl.

Spencer moved out fast, racing on silent feet down the hall with the girl on his heels and Drago on hers.

Talia was waiting in the shadows as they exited the brothel, and Drago handed over the last of the money he’d promised her. The two girls nodded their thanks and moved off quickly into the night.

Drago headed the opposite direction, moving toward a street of bars and sex shops. When they’d hit the well-lit area with plenty of people for cover, he asked Spencer, “Are there drones or satellites watching us tonight?”

“Not that I’m aware of. The operation to bring you in seems small. Tight. No support team to speak of. One senior supervisor, one area expert, one tech guy, and my handler.”

“And Charles Favian is your handler?”

“Correct.”

Drago let out a relieved breath. “He would let me know if he was watching me now.”

“You sure about that?” Spencer asked sharply.