Phantom in the Night (B.A.D. Agency, #2)(6)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

And if that wasn’t a stupid reaction to a stranger who held her captive she didn’t know what was.

Brady was right. She needed to get laid if a thief could raise a sliver of sexual interest in her. Bad as it sounded in her mind right now, she was sort of turned on. Had the attack three months ago distorted her emotions to the point she needed to be in danger to feel excited? With all the emotional baggage she already toted around after that night, she hoped not.

Nightmares of knives, screaming, and blood.

She’d been so sure she would die that night.

Buried terror of fighting a man armed with a razor-sharp blade who outweighed her by a hundred-plus pounds burst alive in her mind. She shut her eyes against the images and the sound of her voice screaming when he stabbed her leg, yanking the knife and ripping flesh.

"You’re trembling," The perp holding her cursed something in Cajun and physically withdrew from her without releasing his hold.

Damn him for unleashing the vulnerability she’d chained down so she could face the world again and function like a normal woman.

"I won’t hurt you," he repeated, irritated.

She couldn’t hear anything but the pounding in her ears.

Her chest rose and fell faster with each breath. His assurance meant nothing to her. The last criminal she’d believed had led her into a deadly ambush.

"I’m going to let you go. Get the hell out of here and don’t come back," All joking was gone from his voice. He sounded as cold and heartless as he had when he’d first spoken.

She started to say she’d be happy to vacate the premises, but his arms released her so quickly she just stood there for a second, regaining her bearings.

Terri snatched at her purse and wrenched out her weapon. She spun around to the door, carefully checking the hallway.

Empty in both directions.

No time to waste when she’d been given a break. She hurried back through the house, more than happy to get the hell out.

On her way through the kitchen, she glanced at the refrigerator out of reflex to check the note once more.

The pale yellow paper was gone.

"What the… ?"

Why would a thief take that note?

"Leave now and don’t come back." The words were whispered eerily from the hallway behind her like an unearthly warning.

She ran to the front door and scooted outside, down the porch, and across the street before reminding herself to breathe.

Who was that guy?

She had no idea, but one thing was clear. He sure as hell wasn’t a thief.

* * *

From inside his mother’s house, Nathan watched the woman flee across the front lawn to the other side of the street. Moonlight shimmered along her shapely form.

Breaking and entering. Right. In that getup? She was some level of law enforcement. He’d bet federal, if not for her quick game to pretend at being a perp.

He’d have expected less creativity and more posturing from a Fed.

And to have a partner.

What the hell was she doing out here alone, breaking and entering in this neighborhood? Didn’t she realize how reckless that was?

Nathan cast another look at her before she vanished into the shadows. She smelled like a spring day when flowers start to bloom. Like nothing he’d breathed in for the past two years.

Like something he’d wanted to feel next to him in a bed at night. His body stirred to life again, hard and wanting, just pissing him off more.

First woman he’d encountered on the outside and she thought he was going to rape her. Not bad enough he was an ex-con and deserter, now he’d sunk to true scum-of-the-earth level.

Great, just great. The only thing to make him a worse a**hole would be to kick a puppy.

Nathan scowled at her and himself. He had no time for women right now. Getting hot and bothered over one connected to law enforcement proved he didn’t have a discerning ounce of blood in his loins.

He lifted the yellow note he’d snatched off the refrigerator.

She’d read the note on her way in. He’d dismissed her interest in it as her just nosing around, but she’d paused to look for the slip of paper again on her way out. Why would she care about Jamie’s note?

The one he’d left for Nathan yesterday when he was still alive. Twenty-four hours earlier and he could have saved Jamie.

A rush of anger cleared the lusty fog. Nathan needed information and bet the skirt that just left knew something.

CHAPTER THREE

"What’s the holdup?"

Duff maintained his calm, but answering this puffed-up lobbyist strained his patience. "New Orleans customs is sitting on a stack of shipping containers. I was told the package would be accessible by now, out of customs, so the holdups not on my end."

"Look, mate, we have a great opportunity here, both of us. One that might not ever come again. I need everything in place in a few days. This next Tuesday is not a soft date. Not like I can just reschedule this."

Few people understood the importance of timing as much as Duff, certainly not this groomed and spoiled Aussie who made his living pulling the strings on powerful men. Parker’s only concern was leveraging a vote in the Senate for his client Zolono Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest in the world… that wanted to be the largest. Small potatoes compared to what Duff had to handle.

"I’m well aware of your schedule." Duff paused before dropping his next little bomb. "It’s why we’ll have to go to the backup… plan B." Duff glanced at the monitor on the desk next to where he stood. The live feed from Parker’s D.C. office shared more than a videophone call would where the person on the other end of the line would know they were being observed.

Parker had been pacing since the minute he’d answered Duff’s call. Now he stopped at his window with arms crossed. Bluetooth hooked to his ear, he gazed out over a distant view of the Mall that stretched from the Washington Monument to Capitol Hill. Duff knew the view well. He’d checked out the entire office when he’d inserted the hidden camera feed. Parker wouldn’t be enjoying his plush lifestyle much longer if he didn’t swing the pharmaceutical deal. For that, he needed Duff, because Parker’s only weapon was charm.

Duff checked his watch. Time waited on no one. "I need to make a move."

"I never wanted any part of plan B. We discussed that. Marseaux will go crazy if you touch his shipment."

"Marseaux assured everyone he’d have that container available by now, that he could get his drug shipment past customs without a hitch. He dropped the ball, so what can he say?" Not really Marseaux’s fault, but the drug lord owed favors and his loss in this would balance out another debt.

"You have a point, but it’s not like he knows the real reason behind the drug shipment, right?" A little note of insecurity crept into Parker’s normally confident voice.

"He knows as much as he needs to. Your call. Say the word and I’ll contact one of my people to get the ball rolling." As if Parker had a choice? Duff fingered his cell phone, wishing he had his Bluetooth, but the fratelli didn’t allow those in meetings.

Duff glanced across the elegant hotel room where his superior, Fra Bacchus, sat in a crimson leather chair, patiently waiting for him to finish the call.

And watching his every move.

"Once the New Orleans PD gets involved, you’ll have Marseaux on your doorstep," Parker reminded him.

"I can handle Marseaux." Duff checked the monitor.

Parker drove fidgety fingers through his hair and paced the length of his sprawling office. Up until two years ago, he’d been the envy of lobbyist on Capitol Hill, the man with the power, until one big deal fell apart after another. His golden touch had tarnished to cheap brass and would quickly turn into shit if he didn’t give Zolono Pharmaceuticals the votes they needed to approve a bid to take over a struggling midsize firm_a monopoly venture, no matter how he colored the proposal.

Duff frowned when Parker picked up a file on his desk, his face relaxing with a forced calm before he spoke. "By the way, Duff, my contacts in New Orleans said the NOPD has a consultant working with them, prior DEA. A sheila is focusing on high-profile drug operations in the city, specifically Marseaux."

"She won’t be a problem. If she is, I’ll deal with her." Duff fingered the focus on the monitor, enlarging the screen until he could see the file in Parker’s hand. Mitchell, Terri. He heaved a deep breath, maintaining his control. Had to. He lived under a microscope.

"But, what if she_"

"Don’t. Worry." Duff had given this clown more leeway than he deserved. "What if the world ended tomorrow? What if you got laid? ‘What ifs’ bore me. Let me do my job. I’ll get the product in place as promised. We still have plenty of time to hand the serum to my people. But we can’t release any of it until I know for sure we have all the antidote and that the serum will indeed work. You just have to assure me payment is ready for the next step."

"Payment will be as agreed." Parker dropped the file on his desk and pinched his brow. "I guess we go to plan B and hope the fallout from Marseaux can be managed. I just… we need to limit the deaths, even if it is for a good reason."

"Having an attack of conscience? I didn’t think that happened in your line of work."

"Regardless of what you think, lobbyists play an important role. If I get the votes Zolono needs, they’ll be able to acquire a potential vaccine against breast cancer from a struggling company without the resources to make it a reality. They could change the future of women in this world."

"Hot damn, you are good. I like how you slide right past how this Senate vote and hostile takeover will catapult Zolono into an international entity that can outpace any competition once the vaccine is turned into a household name. Your CEO buddy kills thousands to save millions. Cherry deal."

No comment.

Duff glanced at the monitor where Parker was gritting his teeth and shaking his fist at an invisible adversary. Some people just can’t take pressure. "Don’t get your backside up. We’ll move ahead as planned and Zolono’s CEO will never know his role in all this."

One flick of a control and the camera zoomed in tight on Parker’s face. Sweat beaded across his creased forehead. But the little prick stretched his neck, an obvious stab at relaxing, and managed to sound like he had the world by the balls when he spoke.

"I should hope so, since you came highly recommended for a discreet operation. And, I don’t want Marseaux coming to D.C."

Discreet. Hell of a way to describe a covert operation for mass execution. "Anton Marseaux is a businessman. He won’t like what happens, but he’ll understand. He has no knowledge of you, so no worries_right, mate?" he mimicked. "I’ll have your product in place by this weekend, in time for Tuesday. Have your next installment ready."

"That’s cutting it close, but this weekend should work. I’ve got a meeting with the client on Friday. I’ll have the funds ready to wire after that."

"One more thing, Parker. Don’t contact people to check up on me. It just pisses me off. Not a smart move on your part." Duff cut a look at the monitor in time to see Parker yank on the collar of his pale blue silk shirt. Baggy eyes had turned his thirty-two-year-old face into a man closing in on middle age.

"Fine. Just keep me informed."

Parker hung up, then swiped his desk clean of files and pens. Temper, temper. Duff punched a button, ending the transmission.

He closed his cell phone and turned to Fra Bacchus.

His short but dangerous superior sat in a reclined position, as at home on the top floor of New Orleans finest five-star hotel, as an eagle perched in its nest above the world. Gray hairs invaded the short brown hair on his head. One eye drooped slightly, giving him a perpetual look of not quite getting what someone said, which was far from the truth with this genius.

"Parker’s snooping in New Orleans," Duff informed him.

"He will find nothing more than any average person who noses around, because he is, after all, only average." Narrow fingers on one hand tapped against the Fra’s robe-covered knees. Hands Duff had been on the punishing end of until he’d proven himself a top general for the cause. He suppressed a shudder at how strong and invasive those fingers could be.

"Of course, Your Exalted." Duff crossed the room to refill the Fra’s wineglass. "I may have to… remove the Mitchell woman."

The Fra stopped tapping his knee. Duff held his breath. Had that been transparent?

"I’ll let you know if that is necessary."

Duff nodded and allowed his lungs to release a tense breath. No unnecessary deaths. Committing one was a serious infraction the Fratelli took painful measures to prevent.

"Is everything in place?"

"Yes, Your Exalted. I have forwarded the tip on the drugs to a snitch in New Orleans who is probably already counting his wad of cash from an NOPD detective." In a few hours, law enforcement would be crawling all over stacks of metal containers in the shipyard, searching for drugs they would locate in the one next to where the Drake body had been found.

That would draw the attention of the Mitchell bitch.

Good. Duff smiled to himself. He liked blondes.

His favorite shade of fear.

"Very well. You may go, Duff."

When Duff reached the door, the Fra called to him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Please don’t disappoint me, Duff. You know how I hate that."

Duff caught himself before he cursed. The Fra always used those specific words right before he’d commerce with the "punishment proceedings," as they were called. Duff’s palms sweated with memories of being tied spread-eagle against a wall.

"No, sir, I won’t disappoint you." I’d slit my own throat first.

* * *

Nathan finished closing drawers in the house. Jamie wouldn’t have left him a note anywhere this obvious, but he couldn’t risk not checking. His throat muscles clenched to the point he couldn’t breathe. First Mom, now Jamie. He’d let everyone down.

He should have taken the beating in prison so he would have gotten out two months ago.

Had he done that, Jamie would be alive now.

Damm it. He should have done a lot of things, but second-guessing decisions had never been of any use. He could accept his mom’s death to some degree, but not Jamie’s. Someone was going to pay for getting his brother involved with the Marseaux family again. Nathan knew that bastard had drawn Jamie in somehow. His brother’s note on the refrigerator had said "If I don’t make it by tomorrow A.M…" Jamie knew he was supposed to be at the prison in the P.M. and they’d used that same code of initials_A.M._for Marseaux during the trial. Nathan wouldn’t fault Jamie, because someone had duped his brother. As clueless as Jamie could be, he wasn’t that stupid. Someone caught Jamie when he was vulnerable and hurting after their mother had died.