“No.” Juliet shook her head. “No, please.”
“Then where is this hidden safe you mentioned?”
“I lied. There is no hidden safe.”
The Ukrainian stepped toward her, his nostrils flaring, his skin mottled. “Then I hope you enjoy pain, and that your husband does, as well. You will suffer mightily before you die.”
“No, I have the codes. They’re right here, look.” Juliet walked over to her pillow and retrieved the drive from the case. She tossed it to the Ukrainian. He inspected it, then looked back at her.
“Good, now you do not need to suffer. But unfortunately, you still need to die.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The Ukrainian came barreling toward Juliet, knife extended. She grabbed the pillow off the bed—it wouldn’t help much, but at least it was something—and shifted her weight sideways as the large, beefy man came at her. She used the pillow to help push the Ukrainian to the side, using his own momentum against him. He stumbled, but didn’t fall all the way to the floor.
Juliet knew this would be her only chance for escape. She ran toward the door, but the Ukrainian was too quick. He grabbed her ankle and yanked, pulling her down. She tried to kick him off, but he was stronger. He reached over to grab his knife and Juliet knew this was the end.
She opened her mouth to scream, not knowing if it would be heard in this storm, but she had to try. The sound hadn’t even left her mouth when the door slammed open and a figure dressed from head to toe in black neoprene flew through the air, tackling the Ukrainian. Juliet backed away, out of reach of the knife.
She couldn’t see his face, but knew the Omega agent was here.
The Ukrainian was determined to kill this new arrival. The agent, on the other hand, at first used nonlethal blows, but when it became obvious they weren’t going to work, the man’s stance altered.
Juliet could see the change, recognize the training. The Ukrainian didn’t know it yet, but he was a dead man. And this Omega agent? He definitely wasn’t a rookie.
It was over in a matter of moments. The Ukrainian came at his attacker, knife aimed at his heart. The agent twisted and stepped out of the way, flipping his foot out and tripping him. Then he straightened quickly and knocked the other man forward with his elbow. The Ukrainian couldn’t recover his balance.
He fell to the floor, landing with his own knife in his chest, dead just seconds later.
The agent whipped his hood off and ran to Juliet. Shock pooled through her.
“Dylan?”
What was her oldest brother doing here? He wasn’t even an active agent anymore, for heaven’s sake. Not that you could tell that from the fight that had just occurred.
Dylan put his face next to Juliet’s and spoke almost silently. “Is this room under surveillance?”
She shook her head. “Not in here. It’s been dismantled.”
He pulled her into a hug. “Jules, are you all right? Where’s Evan? You’ve got a load of bruises on your face. Are you hurt?”
“What are you doing here, Dylan?”
He gently framed her face with his hands. “Juliet, are you hurt?” he repeated.
“No, I’m fine. I’m fine. Just some bruises. But I have to get back to Evan. That guy’s partner—” she pointed to the body lying on the ground “—has instructions to kill Evan if we’re not back in about five minutes.”
“I’ll help you with the other guy.”
“Dylan, why are you here?”
“When Cam and Sawyer told me about the yacht and all the changes yesterday, I flew in to headquarters to see if there was anything I could do. When we got your message, both Sawyer and Cam wanted to be the ones who came here, but neither were up to the physical aspect of getting on board.”
“Didn’t Omega have anyone else to send?”
“Of course they did, but we weren’t sure what condition you would be in. Everyone thought it would be best if a family member met you, in case there was…trauma.”
Juliet quickly hugged him. “I’m fine, Dylan. Trauma-free. Although I was probably about to get myself killed by that guy. Thank you, by the way. You may not be an Omega agent anymore, but nobody would’ve known it from what I just saw.”
He bent and kissed her on the forehead. “You look great, little sis, um, except for the massive bruising and swelling.”
Juliet rolled the eye that wasn’t swollen shut. “Thanks.”
“No, I mean you seem together. Prepared. In charge. You look better than I’ve seen you look in eighteen months.”
“I’m doing better, Dylan. I really am. Evan was right, I just needed something to force me to get back in the game.”
“Karcz being right, now there’s a first.” Dylan winked at her. “Let’s go get him.”
She opened the door, but when she heard voices down the hall, immediately closed it again. “People are out there, Dylan.”
She handed him the hard drive with the codes. “Here, you take this, find your other Omega guy and move out. I’ll get Cady and his security people to help me with the other Ukrainian and Evan.”
“Are you sure? I hate to send you to Cady for anything.”
“No, it will be fine. Vince will be furious that the Ukrainians tried this right under his nose. I’ll tell him I killed this guy. It will work.”
“Okay. Be safe, sis. See you soon.” Dylan kissed her forehead, then pulled his neoprene mask back over his face. Juliet opened the door and headed toward the voices she heard, while her brother made his way in the other direction. Halfway down the hall, she turned to check Dylan’s progress, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Omega had lost a brilliant agent the day they had lost Dylan Branson. But Juliet knew he had his reasons for quitting.
Knowing he was clear, she started screaming her head off.
“Help! I need help!” Forcing hysteria wasn’t difficult.
Juliet was sure she looked a sight—bruised, bleeding,
