Targeted

been arrested. He was pissed about her disappearance but seemed to think she’d decided to run with what money she had. Even if she had been picked up by a government agency, the woman didn’t know much. She’d been recruited to watch the inner workings of SBMS, but she wasn’t privy to any real knowledge.

Grabbing a notepad, he headed toward the conference room, wondering if it was possible anyone was on to him. No, he’d been too diligent. He’d cleared all his tracks after running the facial recognition scans, but before that he’d even pointed those tracks toward someone else in case someone got really suspicious and managed to extract his online trail. And he hadn’t gotten any dings on his offshore accounts, so no one should know about his growing stash. Just breathe, he ordered himself.

As he walked down the hallway, he was surprised to see two other analysts and five field men heading toward the room also.

Once they were all seated, Wesley closed the door. “We’re all leaving in thirty minutes, so shut down whatever you’re working on. If it’s necessary, delegate your work to someone else. We’ll be gone for a few days.”

“Where are we headed?” one of the new field guys asked.

“That’s classified.” Wesley glanced around the room expectantly, but no one else said a word.

They all had bags packed for emergencies or special operations. That was just the way things worked. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone on a mission when he had no clue what was going on and no previous notice.

Wesley glanced at his watch. “If that’s all, everyone better be on time.”

As they all started to rise, Wesley spoke again. “One more thing. Leave work cell phones and computers at your desks. All materials will be provided on-site. There will be a security check when we get to the hangar, so don’t let me catch you with anything.”

Hangar. That meant they were flying. But to where? He picked up his notepad and exited the room with everyone else. Sweat rolled down his back as he headed back to his desk. No one was paying attention to him, so he slipped into the nearest restroom. There was one person in there, so he waited in a stall until the man left. Then he called Vargas.

“Yes?”

“Something’s going down in the next few days, but I don’t know what it is.” He kept his voice low.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“It’s all hush-hush. There’s nothing on file either. I’m getting on a plane in half an hour to God knows where.”

“Call me when you know more.”

“That’s going to be a problem. They’re taking away all our communications.”

“Do they know about my arrival?” Vargas asked.

“It’s possible, but I don’t know where we’re going.” He hadn’t heard anything, but that didn’t mean shit anymore. The past couple of days he might as well have been invisible. Wesley hadn’t confided anything to him. Not that he hadn’t tried to subtly get his attention. He’d been making pointless trips to his office with excuses to talk to him. Nothing was working.

“Contact me if you can.”

“Are you still coming to the States?”

“Of course. If they try to interfere, I have another—how do you say?—ace in the hole.”

He frowned but didn’t comment. He didn’t like being kept in the dark, especially when he might need to use Vargas. “When are you going to wire the rest of my money?”

“When this job is over.” His answer was expected, but it still annoyed him. He’d put his neck on the line and now he might lose everything he’d worked so hard for. Now that he didn’t have to worry about paying off his debts, he could enjoy the benefits of his work. He deserved it. He was underappreciated here, and for how smart he was, the pay was a joke. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was actually harming anyone. He might pass on valuable information for the right price, but his hands were clean.

“Fine, I’ll be in contact when I can.”

Vargas disconnected without responding, so he slid his personal cell back into his pocket. He’d have to get rid of this before he left.

All his survival instincts told him to disappear now, but there was no way he could get out of the building undetected, and more important, Vargas still hadn’t paid him the majority of what he was owed. Even if he managed to get to his car, they’d send someone after him, track his accounts, and freeze his money. Without all of his funds, his early retirement wouldn’t be as lush as he’d like and everything he’d done would be for nothing.

•   •   •

“Why did you buy all those cap guns?” Sophie asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

He didn’t miss the amused note in her voice. Jack loaded their bags into the backseat, then got into the driver’s seat. Trying to banish the image of watching Sophie pick out undergarments—simple cotton panties had never been so sexy—he said, “For the sulfur.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I need it.”

“Again, care to elaborate?” She crossed her legs toward him as she shifted against the leather seat.

“Wesley is bringing a team in with plenty of firepower, but I always like to be prepared.”

“Like a Boy Scout?” Her lips curled up slightly, the vision seriously tempting him to lean over and take her mouth the way his body was urging him to. Last night definitely wasn’t enough. It had only enflamed his lust and need for her.

“Exactly.” He knew she didn’t understand what he was saying, but the less she knew the better.

Jack’s boss would be bringing in a good team, but he didn’t know some of the men and Jack always liked to have a backup plan in case things went wrong.

He pulled out another one of the throwaway phones as he steered out of the parking lot. Jack had contacts all over the country—hell, the world—and while he hated using this particular one now, he didn’t have a choice.

After five rings, he was about to give up when someone answered. There wasn’t an audible response, but Jack could hear muted movement on the other end. “Alexander?”

“Who is this?” his contact barked.

“It’s Dante.”

“Holy shit, man. It’s been what, four years?”

“That sounds about right. I hate to call and ask for a favor like this, but I’m in town for an unexpected job and need some packaging material.” Code for C-4.

Alexander Lopez wasn’t the brightest weapons dealer Jack had ever dealt with, but he was careful. Which was why he was still in business.

“How much?”

“Enough to wrap up a small warehouse.” More code. Not exactly genius code, but if someone was listening they couldn’t bring Alexander down on anything without solid proof.

“I don’t know, man. That’ll take some time.”

“Payment up-front.”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“So we have a deal?”

“Remember that abandoned warehouse we used to party at?” Code for a storage container they’d made exchanges at twice.

“Yes. When can you meet?” Jack asked.

“Tomorrow?”

“Sooner. How about twenty minutes?”

“Man, how do you even know I’m in town?”

Jack snorted. The man rarely left Miami and they both knew it. “Can you do it or not?”

The other man sighed. “I’ll be there.”

Jack disconnected, then took the battery out of the phone. This was one phone he wouldn’t be using again. The others he was using he was fairly sure weren’t being tracked, but he was ninety percent sure Alexander was being watched by someone. The DEA, FBI, who knew? Hell, he was probably being watched by the local cops