Page 8

Chapter

Eight

ALPHABET

“ Y ou still limping, Kelly?” Reznik said in a dark snarl as his gaze traveled past Voodoo to lock on me. Yeah, he was definitely going to be a problem.

So many ways we could play this.

So. Many. Ways.

For one long moment, I let my gaze sweep the room. I’d identified and photographed eleven of the targets.

We were waiting on number twelve.

Riveting my attention back to Reznik, I straightened to let the camera on my lapel snap his image. Not that I could forget it. Then again, sometimes you had to see it to believe it particularly when it came to this former captain, dishonorably discharged and disgraced.

“Well, you’re definitely still ugly.”

His dark snarl turned into a smirk just in time for the bartender to set out the twenty thousand dollar bottle of wine. There was timing and then there was timing. Taking a page out of Gracie’s book, I hurled the bottle and took enormous satisfaction out of it colliding with the man’s face.

The nature of the premium glass used for expensive bottles added heft but it still didn’t prevent it from smashing as it slammed into his nose. Pain exploded over his expression along with the wine and he staggered.

Voodoo flipped the table closest to us, sending glasses flying and catching one of Reznik’s guards in the face with the wood. Knives flashed in hands and he sliced his way through the men stampeding toward us.

I yanked the bartender toward me, and relieved him of his gun. A single blow with the weapon knock him out. I aimed low and took out the knees of any security racing toward us. Lunchbox had Reznik up and slammed his head into another table repeatedly.

Marva Duvall—Peacock—and Diamond along with her, were already rushing out the doors as their guards split up. Half came toward us, while the others hustled them out. Voodoo cut through the crowd, lethal, fast, and more than a little reckless.

There was a reason he was the only one who could keep up with Bones in hand-to-hand. Another door opened on the far side of the room.

“Fuck,” I swore as more of our targets sought to escape. I yanked a ball vial out of my inner pocket and threw it. It arced over the room and I shot it. It rained glass and a uv-traceable liquid down on those rushing out.

It was better than nothing, so I headed for the main doors as metal coverings slid down over the windows. Yeah, we weren’t going to be locked in here. I took out the two guards in my way, then smashed open the control panel.

“Time to wrap this gentlemen,” I said, taking control of the doors to hold them open. Voodoo and Lunchbox converged on me with Reznik and two other key bidders in hand. Once out, I let the doors shut and caught up to Suitcase and his men before their elevator could close.

The gun in close quarters would deafen the man, but I wanted his guards down. Then we had all four of them in the elevator. One elbow to Suitcase’s jaw and he went down. The other three collapsed at our feet.

“Switch,” Voodoo said to Lunchbox who was already pulling out the darts he’d readied for this. He stabbed each one of them swiftly, one in the neck and two others in their arms. He glared down at Reznik, then stabbed him behind the ear.

It was hardly going to kill them. As much as I wouldn’t mind beating Reznik to death, I’d rather see him spend the rest of his life in a cage.

Soon, I promised myself.

We took the elevator down to the control room level and the guys were out, leaving our passengers in the wedged open space. I passed the gun to Voodoo and trusted them to have my back as I got the control room open.

The techs inside weren’t top level security and they ran as soon as they saw us. “Server room,” I told Lunchbox and he corralled them in there. I spat out the gum I’d been chewing and used it to secure a magnet under the console.

It was a fast job, but I ran wires to it from the three nearest consoles. The screens were all playing a saver. Smart techs had already logged us out.

That was fine. I slid a flash drive into a server rack at the back, leaving it while I wired another magnet to the front console. As soon as I was done, I yanked out the thumb drive before I smashed the button over the fire alarm and yanked it.

The sound was ear splitting, but it would ripple upwards to the hotel and down to the casino.

“Done,” I called and we left the control room and headed past the open elevator and to the service stairs. We took them three at a time, and climbed back up to ground level, then up three more levels to guest floors.

I used one of the keycards I’d collected to open the door to the hotel room hall. We were stripping suit jackets and ties. With one hard tug, I pulled the bloodied shirt off over my head.

There was a laundry cart mid-way down the hall and we deposited the clothes in that one. Weapons went in a trash cart farther down. Voodoo grabbed a master key off one of the maid carts wedged into a door. The alarms hadn’t gone off up here?—

Then right on cue, they sounded. We were already in another room. I went through the closet. “Nope.”

We gave it a beat then went to another. The search turned up fresh shirts. They would fit. No pants.

That was fine, I’d rather wear my own. There was a baseball cap in the suitcase and I tucked it over my head. There was also a jeweler’s box and I popped it open. The sapphire bracelet inside was stunning.

Tempting.

But I left it. I could buy Gracie one of her own. I snagged the backpack though and shoved a couple of fresh shirts inside it and the shaving kit. At the rate we were going, we were going to need it.

I made sure there were no trackers in the bag then slung it over my shoulder. We needed to move. As long as the adrenaline was pumping, the aches in my right leg were tolerable.

Lunchbox opened the door and scanned the hall before he motioned to us. “Let’s go.”

The fire alarm would lock down the elevators, so we headed for the fire stairs on the far end from where we’d come up and we fell in with the other guests descending to get out.

Going up was always easier on my leg than down, but I ignored the jolt shooting up from my knee with each step. Security was everywhere on the ground floor trying to keep the chaos in check.

We split apart, moving steadily but separately.

I took a woman’s elbow and her bag to “help” her.

Lunchbox was ushering an older couple ahead of him, particularly the man who seemed to be struggling to catch his breath.

Voodoo had his phone to his ear and a violent expression that kept everyone away from him.

It took us less than fifteen minutes from leaving that room to walk away from the hotel, the security, and the crowds as local authorities poured in. They were going to have a hell of a time explaining this mess.

Opening another piece of gum, I popped it into my mouth and limped my way toward the Monte Carlo station.

They might be looking for three guys, they wouldn’t be looking as closely at individuals.

While Reznik had our IDs, he’d also been unconscious, with a broken nose, and probably nursing a concussion.

Couldn’t happen to a better guy.

We had twelve out of twelve bidders photographed. At least half that many were already ID’d. I’d have the others as soon as I could sit down and decrypt the images I’d taken. The uv-reactive serum made them traceable, at least for a time.

If they were smart, which everything pointed to them being, they’d check themselves for something and the reactivity would keep them on lockdown for a couple of days.

Enough to buy us some time to regroup. By the time I got to the station, Voodoo sat at a table eating a burger and looking like a Magnum PI reject in his Hawaiian shirt, dark sunglasses, and smirk. He must have grabbed it on the way in, cause there were no cafes in here.

Shaking my head, I snagged my own meal after I hit the ticket office. There were three trains departing over the next ninety minutes. I booked the one leaving after those three. Lingering would send any trackers in the wrong direction and on the wrong trains.

I found the Starbucks right outside, and got a coffee and a sandwich before I headed back in. The lack of my laptop had me itchy. Still, we’d get it back after we got to Marseille and picked up our gear from that station.

Three hours later, I settled into my seat on the train and stretched my leg out. It was definitely aching like a bitch now. Lunchbox turned up and he dropped into a seat on the other side of the aisle. Voodoo wasn’t far behind. The train wasn’t loaded. At least this car wasn’t. That was nice.

None of us relaxed, though. When we crossed from Monaco back into France, some of the tension knotting my back eased. But not all of it.

I kept turning the idea of the bracelet over in my head. I really liked it. In Marseille, we left the train and the limp damn near dropped me. My knee wanted nothing to do with me.

“Here,” Lunchbox said, bracing me. “Lean on me.”

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. As much as I didn’t want to need the help, if I didn’t take it, I’d be crawling after them and that wouldn’t do anyone any good. Voodoo slanted a look at us, then nodded.

“I’ll get the car. Meet at the south exit.”

I waved him off. Lunchbox and I made our way to the train lockers. Once there, I sat my pitiful ass down and rubbed at the rock hard cramps twisting my thigh. Sweat beaded along my back and my shirt clung uncomfortably to me.

“You’re hurting,” Lunchbox said after he pulled out their duffels then pulled mine from another locker along with my laptop. Our overall luggage was a wash, but we had everything that was necessary.

“Yep.” Wasn’t even going to lie about it. “I’ll survive.”

He shot me a look and I shrugged.

“I will,” I reminded him. “We got the job done. Identified bidders. Marked a huge spot on their little trafficking super highway. And I broke Reznik’s nose while you got to break the rest of his head. As ops go, this was a good one.”

A smile ghosted over his mouth. “Did not see him coming.”

“He didn’t see us coming either. But I’m not gonna be the one who tells Bones.” At my comment, Lunchbox grunted.

“We’ll make Voodoo handle it.”

“Seems fair,” I agreed. “That everything?” Because I needed to get up again.

“You got it?” He watched me warily and I nodded.

“I can handle it, let’s just get the hell out of here. We still need to track down Bones, Gracie, and Goblin.” It seemed like it had been days since we last saw them.

To be fair, it had been. At least three, if I hadn’t lost count. Probably closer to four or five. Definitely five by the time we caught up. We’d had an extraction plan and designated meetups.

We just needed to catch them now.

Voodoo waited, SUV running when we got there. Lunchbox waved me into the back and I took it, I wanted to stretch my leg out. After everything was loaded and Lunchbox was in the passenger seat, we pulled out.

“We were just supposed to get the info,” Voodoo said, almost conversationally. “Mission briefing had to change while in op.”

“We did get the info,” Lunchbox reminded him. “We also got to beat the shit out of a few assholes. As ops go, that worked.”

With a snort, Voodoo shook his head then he glanced back at me. “You good?”

“Not even on my best days,” I said, closing my eyes. “But I’ll live. I want a couple of hours. Then wake me so I can start decrypting the data.”

“You got it?” Lunchbox jerked to look over his shoulder at me.

I held up the flash drive. “Grabbed it on the way out. Once I decrypt it, we’ll know what they know.”

Buyers. Sellers. The people on the menu.

Everything.

I yawned. Everything, I hoped. Better to amend that and keep my aspirations low.

For now.

“Two hours,” I repeated, folding my arms and tucking my chin down. Two hours, then I’d get back to work.