Page 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“You sure this is the place?” Delphine asked twenty minutes later.

They were parked across from a dingy dive bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Though the neon sign above the door was dark, there were signs of movement inside. Steam curled from an extractor fan at the side of the establishment, indicating the kitchen was in use.

“Delroy mentioned this place to Antonio once.” Vlad drummed his fingers on the armrest of the Range Rover. “He said it reminded him of home.”

Delphine stared. “And you remember that tiny detail because…?”

“Because I make it my business to know everything about the people who work for me.” His jaw tightened. “Or I thought I did.”

Delphine’s phone buzzed. She checked the message on the screen and frowned.

“My contact at the Port Authority confirms Delroy has a flight booked to Kingston tonight.”

“Then we better not waste any more time.” Vlad reached for the door handle.

Delphine grabbed his wrist, her movement so fast it made him flinch. The contact sent heat dancing across her skin despite the charged situation.

“We do this my way,” she said firmly. “You’re still vulnerable without your powers.”

Vlad scowled. “I can handle myself.”

Delphine bit back a curse.

“I don’t doubt that.” Her grip tightened fractionally. “But we’re not taking unnecessary risks. Not this time.”

They locked eyes. The air grew thick between them.

Tarang huffed from the back seat, breaking the tension.

“Fine.” Vlad relented. “What’s the plan?”

“We go in the front. I’ll take point.” She released his wrist and checked her weapon. “You watch my six and let me do the talking.”

“And if he runs?”

A cold smile curved her mouth. “I’d love to see him try.”

They exited the vehicle and crossed the road.

The bar’s interior reeked of stale beer and cigarettes. A handful of patrons hunched over their drinks at scattered tables, their bleary gazes barely registering their entrance as they watched a baseball game on the TV on the wall. Caribbean music played softly from hidden speakers and the smell of something greasy wafted through the swinging doors leading to the kitchen.

Delphine navigated the floor, her stride purposeful but unhurried.

Vlad and Tarang followed, the familiar invisible to all but the two of them.

The bartender was a heavyset man with tattoos and graying dreadlocks. His eyes narrowed when they approached.

Delphine stopped in front of him, undaunted by his frown.

“We’re looking for Andre,” she said curtly.

“Don’t know no Andre,” he grunted.

His voice failed all of her truth detector tells.

“Really? Maybe you know him as Delroy.” She placed a mugshot on the counter.

The bartender’s expression didn’t change.

Had she not been a super soldier, Delphine would have probably missed the infinitesimal flicker in his eyes.

A soft click reached her ears, the sound low enough to be drowned out by the noise from the TV but not so low that it could escape her hearing.

A door marked ‘Staff Only’ had just closed to the right.

Delphine was already moving.

“Take the back!” she yelled at Vlad.

Vlad unfroze and bolted for the rear exit, Tarang at his heels.

“Hey! You can’t go through there!” the bartender roared as Delphine grabbed the handle of the staff door.

It was locked.

She kicked it open, the nanorobots in her peripheral vision catching sight of the bartender as he rounded the counter, a baseball bat in hand and a scowl on his face.

Delphine dashed through the staff area beyond and along a short service corridor that opened into the rear alley.

Delroy was running down the passage to her left.

She went after him.

Vlad burst out of a door ahead of the bartender, Tarang a white shape beside him.

Fear squeezed Delphine’s heart when she saw Delroy aim a gun at them.

The army knife strapped to her right ankle appeared in her hand in the blink of an eye.

She never stopped running as she threw it, the metal gleaming dangerously under the sunlight as it left her grip.

Delroy cried out when it impaled the back of his hand a fraction of a second before he pulled the trigger.

The shot went wild.

She was on him in the next moment, anger making her movements harsh as she kicked the back of his leg to bring him to the ground. She slammed his face into the blacktop, breaking his nose. A choked gurgle escaped Delroy when she pinned him with a knee in the small of his back and yanked his arms behind him hard enough to almost dislocate his shoulders.

“Delphine!” Vlad shouted, alarmed.

Air shifted behind her. A draft ruffled her hair and danced across her right cheek as she twisted sharply out of the way of the bartender’s down-swinging bat.

Delroy grunted and groaned when it struck his hip.

Delphine rammed his head into the ground when her hand found purchase on his skull. She pushed off fluidly into the air and back-kicked her attacker in the jaw before he could react.

Bone cracked under the heel of her boot.

Delphine somersaulted over Delroy, twisted, and landed lightly on her feet. The bartender struck the ground with his knees and slumped forward.

Vlad appeared beside her.

“Are you okay?!” He grabbed her shoulders, his gaze raking her from head to toe.

“I’m peachy.”

Delphine startled when he hugged her tightly to his chest.

“God, that scared me!” Vlad mumbled in her hair.

Delphine stiffened. Every instinct she possessed screamed she should be stepping out of his arms and insisting they keep a professional distance. Yet she found herself standing still, the feel of Vlad’s heartbeat pounding against her ribs making her belly clench with an emotion she shouldn’t be feeling about a client.

She pulled back and met his worried gaze, remorse tightening her throat.

“Are you okay? You almost took a bullet again.”

“I’m fine, thanks to you.” His eyes glittered. “The way you threw that knife was really hot.”

Delphine’s breath stuttered as attraction sizzled in the air between them.

Vlad’s gaze grew heavy-lidded. He tilted her chin with a knuckle and leaned in to kiss her.

Delphine’s lips parted, anticipation sending her pulse racing.

A terrified whimper made them both freeze.

Tarang had sat down on Delroy and was watching them with a grin, heedless of the ashen-faced man frozen beneath him.

A figure appeared at the end of the alley. Delphine tensed before relaxing.

It was Cortes.

“Hey!” the Colombian shouted as he jogged over. “You guys alright?”

Vlad reluctantly released her. “How’d he find us?”

“I messaged him the address.”

Popo left Cortes’s shoulder and flew ahead of him. He landed on Tarang’s head and studied Delroy curiously.

“Who’s this punk?” he asked the tiger.

Tarang huffed and growled.

Cortes reached them. “Did I interrupt something?”

His gaze held a hint of curious amusement as it swung between Delphine and Vlad.

“No,” she said curtly. She turned and squatted next to Delroy’s head. “You really shouldn’t have run.”

Delroy gulped. “I—I don’t know anything!”

Tarang let out a threatening rumble right in his ear.

Delroy yelped. Fear widened his eyes. “Please! They—they’ll kill me if I talk!”

Vlad’s voice dropped dangerously. “And you think we won’t?”