Cold Snap, page 24
This room had been his first stop, so it didn’t look strange he was still carrying his clothes. Pretty much everyone got naked fast and stashed their belongings in a corner somewhere. He put the bedside table to rights and made sure their camera still covered most of the bed. He didn’t want them coming in here and seeing the stuffed toy.
Satisfied, he made sure he had all his belongings, acting drunk but not too drunk as he exited the room.
He wore nothing except a black bow tie that looked ridiculous but also contained a tiny camera. The battery wouldn’t last long but he didn’t need much, a glimpse of certain people in action would be enough.
He was careful to only pick a blue pill from the bowl on the living room coffee table, although he did indulge in a glass of champagne that he poured from a new bottle.
He raised his glass to the judge who was being sucked off by a barely pubescent young woman.
Eli wasn’t falling for that one again. Being a pedo wasn’t high on his to-do list. The organizers may claim everyone here was a consenting adult, but given those same organizers were collecting compromising information on high-level targets, he didn’t trust a word of it.
He made sure to watch for long enough to catch the girl’s face and budding breasts. He stroked himself because the only thing that stood out in a room like this was not being turned on by the activities of those around them.
He searched for the senator next and found the guy tied crosswise over the dining table wearing a ball-gag and a cock-ring while a dominatrix strode around him in a leather outfit and high-heeled black boots. She lashed the senator’s upper thighs and sent Eli a look before licking the leather on the end of her crop.
“Let me know if you want to play.” Her smile was pleasant, like she was a croupier asking if he wanted to be dealt into a game of Blackjack.
“Pain’s not my gig.”
She bit her lip. “You can always be the one with the whip.”
She grinned at him and sent another lash so close to the senator’s straining cock Eli winced. He shook his head, knocked back the champagne, and went to find a refill.
Where was Lisa?
He found her in the old-fashioned library where she was riding her lover, a KGB operative by the name of Sergei Lushko, as he lay back on an ebony table that was low enough that she had both feet planted on the floor. No wonder she loved these parties.
Sergei was in the US supposedly as some embassy drone, but Eli knew the truth.
Eli watched his wife and saw the exact moment the two became aware he’d entered the room. They cloaked their expressions to less of adoration and more of plain old lust.
Eli was an idiot for not seeing it before.
He’d always wondered how they’d gotten an invite to such an exclusive event, but it was obvious now. It wasn’t because Lisa was incredibly beautiful and everyone wanted her. It was because he was a mark, a dupe.
Anger rose inside him as he drank his champagne and wandered over to the two lovers on the table. There were others around. An older, white woman was getting banged from behind so hard her sagging breasts wobbled. The guy doing the deed looked about ninety, and they both seemed to be enjoying themselves, so Eli had no issue with them finding their pleasure in each other. As long as it was honest. As long as it was legal. As long as it was consensual.
Eli was a big believer in consent, and he’d remembered a few more details from the last party. Flashes still, but flashes that made sense now. Flashes that made the rage inside him climb.
He picked up a bottle of lube off the side and poured copious amounts into his cupped hand. He placed the bottle back on the bookshelves, walked over to his wife, and gave her a sloppy kiss on the ear.
“I want to join you.”
She sent him a look that was slightly annoyed at the edges before her lips curved into a smile.
“Of course, darling.” She went to stand but he pressed her back down with a hand on her shoulder.
“Like this. While you’re fucking your other lover.”
She tensed under his hand. He let nothing show on his face except a stupid grin.
He pushed her down. “Kiss him. I want you to feel both of us inside you.”
He found a condom. They were everywhere. Slipped it on one handed, still cupping the lube.
He moved until he stood behind her. He dripped lube over her ass and watched it dribble over them both. Noticed how Sergei’s grip on Eli’s wife’s thighs tightened.
The guy was possessive of her, but was forced to share, to pretend. Eli understood perfectly.
It was sad, really. To be forced to live these false lives.
The real pity was they’d picked him to snare in their little trap. Eli had always had a problem with people screwing him over.
He slathered lube all over his cock and then took his sweet wife from behind. He was gentle and slow. Considerate. He felt her gripping his cock so tight it was a good thing he’d already come with the redhead.
It took a minute to seat himself fully inside her and then he used her steadily until she came hard. He could feel the other man there, too. Competing for space.
Eli pulled all the way out and then adjusted himself before pressing into the man lying prone on the table.
He hadn’t received an invitation, but fair was fair in love and war.
Eli used his position and weight to squash Lisa between them as he forced himself inside Sergei.
Sergei froze with a look of horror, then shock.
Muscles gripped Eli like a vise.
“Is this all right?” he asked quickly, but far too late. “I thought you enjoyed it last time…” He let his voice trail away in confusion as he held himself still.
The other man’s rich, dark-chocolate brown eyes widened. Sergei hadn’t expected him to remember because Eli had been so wasted.
“Of course.”
Eli forced himself to laugh drunkenly even though he felt nothing except rage as he drove into the man, over and over. Eli watched Sergei’s eyes go flat, his hand reach out to wrap around Lisa in a protective gesture that made Eli hate them both even more.
This was their fault. They’d done this to him. They’d destroyed him, and he intended to destroy them both right back.
He felt his own climax building as he held the stare of the other man. They were each trying to outlast the other but Sergei was still inside Lisa’s tight little cunt, and Eli knew exactly how incredible that felt.
Eli drove hard enough to move the table.
Lisa started to come or at least pretended to. They had a show to perform after all.
Eli drove over and over and finally watched Sergei crash over that edge with a yell. He took Eli with him, but Eli didn’t care.
Not anymore.
He had no pride left. No honor. No scruples.
He was a husk of the man he’d been, and it was their fault.
He pulled himself free and kissed the spot between his wife’s shoulder blades as she shuddered on top of the other man.
“Thank you. That was amazing.” He looked around and picked up his glass. “Everyone should try that at least once.”
He raised his glass to a wealthy businessman who’d been watching with his cock down a woman’s throat. The old lech pushed the woman aside and headed toward where Lisa and Sergei lay as if asleep on the coffee table.
Eli felt a little sick but didn’t care. He didn’t wait to see what happened next. Instead, he wandered into the bathroom and flushed the condom. He was very careful with his DNA nowadays.
It was almost over.
He’d disappear, and these people would help him. Lisa and Sergei could live happily ever after for all he cared. He headed to the pool deck to see what more scandalous debauchery he could find.
41
Present day
Ryan let his teammates in through the side door of the hotel.
Nash, Keeme, Griffin, and Novak piled quickly inside. One assault team should be enough. Novak was a former Green Beret and a card-carrying member of Mensa. Between the rest of them they had decades of HRT experience. Even the newbies were no slouches. Griffin had been part of the enhanced SWAT team in Atlanta and Donnelly in the 82nd Airborne.
He didn’t need to worry about her.
She’d be fine.
No one spoke as he led the way through the empty hallways to a room three down from the Russians.
He rapped quietly on the solid wood. Donnelly opened it, weapon in hand. They hurried inside.
Nash, Keeme, and Griffin tossed the heavy gear bags on the bed, and everyone silently began climbing into black Nomex flight suits. They pulled on a biohazard suit over the top and thin protective gloves. Instead of tactical helmets they wore biohazard helmets with comms.
It looked like an alien invasion, and the chilling effect of these suits never failed to send a quiver of fear straight to his heart.
Ryan couldn’t help himself as he checked Donnelly over and made sure she’d properly fitted the respirator. He did the same to Griffin and told himself he was a good teammate and leader.
Sure.
They all readied their weapons as quietly as possible.
Then they huddled close even though they wore earpieces that meant they could hear a whisper perfectly clearly across town.
“Donnelly and Griffin, take either end of the corridor. Watch for civilians and block the Russians’ escape if one of them gets past us,” Novak stated.
Ryan ignored the rush of relief that washed over him at the knowledge that Donnelly wouldn’t be going back into that room.
It was chauvinistic and wrong. Donnelly would skewer him for it.
“We want them alive if possible, but if they go for a weapon—including anything that could spray or be thrown at us—we put them down. Be mindful the walls are thin and the bullets will travel. We don’t want any civilian casualties, and we don’t want the release of any nerve agent by a foreign actor on US soil.”
It would be an act of war.
Ryan folded his arms. “No one is checked into the adjacent rooms.”
Nash pulled out the handheld radar. “Let’s double-check, and then see where they are and figure out how we do this.”
Ryan paced the carpet, waiting for the unit to power up.
Nash pointed the device at the Russians’ room. Frowned. “Not seeing anyone.”
The tension in the room deflated as if someone had stuck a pin in it.
“Shit.” Ryan ground out between clenched teeth.
“Are you sure they came back here from the golf club?”
Ryan nodded. “We sat in the bar after we booked more rooms and saw them pull into the parking lot and enter the hotel around ten. The female came into the bar and ordered a couple of whiskies to go and was busy chatting to a couple of the locals, so we lost eyes on the male for maybe ten minutes. After the woman left, we came up here separately maybe five minutes later and took turns watching the peephole to make sure they didn’t leave their room. Fuck.” Ryan wanted to hit something. “We gave them a little space because we didn’t want them to get spooked.”
Donnelly shot him a glance. “Their car is still in the parking lot.”
“They couldn’t know we searched their rooms or were onto them. We didn’t move anything, even draped the hair back across a handle on the chest of drawers.”
“Old school.” Nash’s tone held a degree of appreciation.
“We blocked electronic transmissions so they didn’t see us even if they’d planted a bug.”
“Maybe they noted the lack of signal?” Nash pointed the hand-held radar at the nearby rooms.
“Car’s here so they might have simply gone for a midnight stroll,” Griffin put in.
“Whatever the reason they aren’t in their room right now, we need to search it and retrieve that perfume bottle,” Ryan insisted. “We cannot afford for them to start poisoning people with nerve gas even if that tips off Kane.”
“He’s right,” Donnelly agreed to his surprise. “We need to secure the chemical weapon and then worry about apprehending them all afterward. The Russians can’t have gone far if they’re on foot. Get the locals to put out an APB.”
“We’ll hold off on the all-points bulletin until we take it up the line.” Novak nodded. “Keeme. Watch their vehicle.” Novak tossed Malik Keeme the keys to their rental SUV. “Touch nothing with your bare skin until we can verify it’s safe, including our own vehicle. Nash and Griffin will check all the rooms on this floor for heat signatures and make sure no one slips out of another room while we’re busy. The three of us will retrieve the suspected poison.”
Novak sent them all a look readable despite his mask. “We don’t need any heroes here today. Let’s take our time and be careful but try to avoid being seen.”
Ryan ground his teeth that Donnelly was coming into the hot zone, but he let it go. They were equipped. They were prepared.
He led the way and Donnelly stacked behind him with a hand on his back. Novak stood opposite. Ryan breathed slowly to calm his heart rate. Thought about the ranch on a summer’s day. Thought about his daughter’s smile.
Novak gave him the nod, and Ryan didn’t bother picking the lock this time. He stood back and kicked the door open. Novak swept inside. Ryan right on his tail. Donnelly took the rear.
The room looked as if a cyclone had hit it. All the drawers were tossed, and the clothes were all gone. So was the laptop and guidebooks.
Ryan strode to the window, all the time scanning his surroundings, looking for boobytraps. He peered through the glass, disappointment and dread settling into his stomach as dense and uncomfortable as an anvil.
The plastic bag was missing. He opened the sash anyway. Leaned out to check. Nothing.
He left it open. Just in case.
He turned to Novak who was coming out of the bathroom. “It’s gone.”
Novak nodded. “We need forensic techs in here but first…” He pushed his weapon aside and pulled a small, capped tube out of his pocket. Shook it. Out of another pocket he pulled a plastic bag full of swabs. “DoD recently designed these for the battlefield. We dip the swabs into this liquid and then test whatever surface we decide most likely to be contaminated. The swabs turn purple in the presence of a nerve agent. If that happens, we get the hell out and evacuate the building.”
“Chemical and biological weapons make me want to hurt someone,” said Ryan.
“Doorknobs or light switches make most sense to check, although, unless they left the hotel looking like us, I doubt there will be any trace.”
“I’m fine with that,” Donnelly muttered.
“Me, too,” Ryan agreed.
They each took swabs and tested various parts of the room, including the doorknob from the hallway. The windowsill.
“Nothing.” Ryan’s relief was massive, and he could feel the sweat drenching his back. He wished to hell he’d grabbed that perfume bottle when he’d had the chance. He thought they’d had it covered. He’d been wrong.
“Let’s get out of here and let Ropero organize the rest of the examination using whatever subterfuge she decides.”
“We need to figure out how they seem to know everything we do before we do,” Ryan murmured, aware the walls could have ears and they needed to sweep the room for electronic surveillance again before speaking freely. “What do you want us to do? Dump the undercover roles?”
The idea of spending more time alone in Donnelly’s company was torture and, if he betrayed that fact, Novak would torment him endlessly—or toss him off the team.
“Stay in your roles for now, but check your doorknob before you enter because I don’t trust these fuckers one inch—although, presumably killing FBI agents isn’t the end goal here. See what the locals think of events tomorrow. See if our actions tonight were noticed or caused any speculation we can use.”
Ryan hid his disappointment, but Donnelly nudged his arm. “I think I’m growing on you, Cowboy.”
“Like a pimple,” he replied dryly.
42
By the time they got back to the house, it was after six in the morning, and Brynn was punchy with fatigue.
Grady had delivered the pets in need of constant medical care to a clinic run by a friend of hers. Dr. Vilamitjana—Kalpa—had allowed most pets to go home with their owners with a promise to check up on them in the morning. Brynn and Kalpa had dropped off three of the dogs, including the enormous fluffy Tibetan Mastiff to animal services, as their owners couldn’t be reached immediately. They’d be safe there in the meantime. The staff obviously adored animals and were happy to help.
Amid violence and destruction, Brynn had found a friend today. She hoped Kalpa was able to rebuild and show whatever bastard had destroyed her clinic that she wasn’t going to be intimidated. That she wasn’t going anywhere.
Brynn found it hard to believe someone would deliberately set fire to the clinic knowing there were animals inside. Caleb Quayle was the obvious culprit. The timing was too coincidental otherwise.
What did Jackie see in him? Were they still an item?
Brynn shook off the thoughts whirling inside her head. Let the sheriff figure it all out if he was capable.
Grady followed her inside leading the gray dog, who went and lay on the rug near the couch. He clearly wasn’t ready to leave her alone yet and she didn’t want him to.
There was a bowl of water on the kitchen floor from the previous day, although they’d given all the animals a drink and treats earlier.
“Did you think of a name for him yet?” She nodded to the animal as she poured two tall glasses of water. Her throat was sore from the smoke, although the medics had released her after some oxygen treatment. Grady had gotten the worst of it.
Grady looked at the dog, who appeared to be asleep already, probably even more exhausted than they were. “I was thinking about Murphy.”
“I love Murphy. Suits him.” She held a glass out to him. “Are you staying?”
