Could the mole inside the Fratelli de il Sovrano sending BAD intel be trusted? Or was tonight’s mission at the Wentworths’ annual March fund-raiser an elaborate setup to expose BAD’s agents?
Out of instinctive reflex, Hunter checked for the 9mm he didn’t have due to the metal detectors he’d have to pass through. He felt naked without it. The sigh he let escape sounded noisy, a testament to the whisper ride of a stretch limo.
“We’ll be there soon, Mr. Thornton… Payne… the third, Your Highness, sir,” came from the wiseass in the front seat driving a limousine so new the leather had a robust scent.
“Fuck. Off.” Hunter was in no mood for anyone’s crap tonight. He had enough on his mind without dealing with the dickhead driving. That sixth sense of his stirred to life with an antsy feeling he couldn’t finger the reason for, but not from concern over executing tonight’s mission. If the mole’s intel was solid, trustworthy, Hunter would walk away one step closer to someone he’d hunted for four years.
The assassin who killed Eliot.
A valid reason to feel edgy.
He would have volunteered to lead this op tonight for that reason alone, but the choice had been made for him before he entered BAD’s mission room. Hunter’s credentials-having been born with a silver spoon in his hand to flip Cheerios across the room-put his name at the top of the list.
A derisive chuckle rumbled from the driver’s seat.
Hunter wished again for a weapon but wouldn’t actually use it on the cretin playing limo driver.
Not worth ruining a tux with blood splatters.
“What’re you so pissy about?” BAD agent Korbin Maximus looked more like a corporate bodyguard stuffed in a dark suit than a reserved limo driver. Mexican genes mixed with who knew what else to give him his muscular six-foot-one build and eyes that were more black than brown. He laid heavily on the barrio accent that came and went with need. “You get the cherry assignments with champagne, limos, and women… how tough is that?”
“Yeah, my life’s a cakewalk,” Hunter muttered, unwilling to engage in another round with Korbin after the argument this morning in Nashville. The muted ding of Korbin’s phone followed by quietly spoken words meant Hunter might be spared any further conversation for the rest of the ten-minute ride to the Wentworth mansion. They both knew tonight’s plan and their jobs, so the less said for the duration of this trip the better.
Hunter could hold the peace but doubted Korbin would.
Cherry assignment? Not from his vantage point.
The team should be thanking him for having the juice to pull an invitation to this fund-raiser with one phone call, not giving him grief over refusing to take a female BAD agent as a companion.
Some might see his assignment tonight as just another advantage of being one of only two Thornton-Payne heirs.
Hunter loathed spending an evening enduring mindless chatter from the perpetually self-consumed almost as much as dealing with the damned media that hovered with a vulture’s eye for opportunistic misery.
But he’d attend fund-raisers every night for a year if it meant the chance to find Eliot’s killer.
And he’d do it for Joe Q. Public, BAD’s director. Joe had brought him into the organization seven years ago when they met in a complicated situation that should have ended with Hunter’s death.
A male snitch in Poland, known only as Borys, had saved both Hunter and a female CIA agent from being made while deep undercover inside the Russian mob. Four months later, the CIA cut a deal with the same crime family to trade Borys for information.
When Borys disappeared before the exchange could be made, the CIA cornered Hunter. Joe pulled off a maneuver to save Hunter’s neck that would have impressed a wizard.
The CIA allowed Hunter to walk away as long as he never interfered with one of their operations again.
If they ever located Borys, Hunter’s life would be worth less than the snitch to the agency.
Entering the Brugmann home four years ago could have resulted in a breach of his agreement with the CIA if not for Joe’s quick action. Unbeknownst to Hunter and Eliot, a camera at the back of the safe had filmed both of them. Mere hours after the FBI’s raid on Brugmann’s property, a team of BAD agents stole the film from an FBI evidence locker before the CIA had a chance to review the images.
Ass saved once again.
If only Eliot had survived. Hunter had gotten Cynthia into the funeral home after-hours so she could have a private moment with Eliot since his family didn’t know she existed. Her anger had rivaled Hunter’s. She’d railed at him for bringing Eliot home in a box. Regardless of what she thought of him, Hunter watched over Cynthia and her son. He’d put aside his feelings over how she’d trapped Eliot and do his duty to his friend forever.
But tonight he had to pay back more than one debt. If he followed his mission instructions, he would only stay long enough to recon the guests attending and pick up the USB memory stick Linette Tassone-their mole inside the Fratelli-dropped at some point during the event, then he’d eavesdrop on the Fratelli meeting if he could locate the three expected to attend.
If. Small word with too much room for autonomy.
During the mission briefing, Joe had told Hunter the CIA had tied the killer at Brugmann’s in Kauai-better known as the Jackson Chameleon-to a series of linked deaths. They wanted the JC assassin.
The CIA should have made better use of the last four years while Hunter had patiently spent his time proving to Joe and Retter he would not go rogue. Waiting on his chance to find the killer who had laughed when Eliot cut his rope. And fell…
“Yep, Joe’s right,” Korbin said, interrupting the silence. His cell phone call had obviously ended, to Hunter’s chagrin. “You are the perfect choice for this gig.” He shrugged with feigned acceptance. “Guess it’s like you said about Rae. No one can play in your league if they’re not born to it.”
Thanks for reminding me of the low shot I had to take at Rae to keep her out of danger tonight. Hunter couldn’t allow anyone to be tied to him once he walked into the Wentworth complex. Rae Graham would do anything BAD required of her, and at a level of expertise that impressed them all, Hunter included.
She deserved to know if she was walking into a dangerous situation, but Hunter could tell no one his plans. “I did Rae a favor.”
Korbin’s harsh laugh was vacant of humor or understanding. “Forgive me if I don’t see the generosity in your argument, amigo.”
Can’t let it go, can you, jerk-off? “If she tried to enter as a guest, someone in tonight’s crowd would nail her as a poser and lacking. Her presence would draw the kind of attention we can’t afford. The minute one woman got a hint of any shortcoming the rest would turn on her faster than a pack of cougars at a frat house.” Hunter cringed internally against the snick of guilt his lie triggered. His job required lying, but he hated doing it at the cost of a teammate’s pride.
Rae and Korbin were fairly new to BAD, on board for just over two years now.
Both had proven to be elite agents.
At five-eight with a buff body, one hell of a brain, and sharp feminine features, Rae would have actually been the perfect companion and made Hunter’s job a whole lot easier this evening. As it was, she’d still be on-site tonight, but as part of the catering staff. Any other time, Rae would have had no issue inserting as a servant, but she didn’t care for being snubbed publicly.
Hunter sympathized. He didn’t care to be the asshole doing the snubbing, but he had a personal agenda that would put his neck in a noose if he got caught.
And might pressure an assassin to act even if Hunter didn’t get caught.
That could put Rae in a sniper’s crosshairs without any warning.
Not going to happen.
And if anyone at BAD knew what he was up to he’d get yanked out of the field so fast he’d have vertigo. He could live with the team pissed off at him for openly dissing Rae, but he couldn’t live with putting any agent at an unfair disadvantage in a dangerous situation.
Neither would he pass up the chance to find Eliot’s killer.
Which made him the scourge of this mission.
What the hell.
Most agents at BAD didn’t like him on a good day. They respected his skills and intelligence-gathering capacity, but no one would partner with him after Eliot’s death.
Maybe because he told them he had cut Eliot’s rope, using cold logic when he explained how Eliot couldn’t climb so getting him down would have been impossible.
Would it have been possible?
Hunter’s gut contracted. Don’t replay what-ifs again.
His lie to Joe and Retter had been the simplest way to prove he was still the ruthless agent BAD expected him to be. Sad to recall how easily everyone at BAD had accepted it as truth, that Hunter could cut the rope on a friend and teammate.
They’d taken an internal step back, eyes judging him as soulless. Which suited Hunter.
He’d never trust another person as much as Eliot.
Never get that close to anyone again.
Never allow someone else to sacrifice their life for him.
Korbin’s dark gaze shot into the rearview mirror, the black eyes stirring with an unfinished battle. “You screwed Rae this morning.”
Didn’t think you’d give up yet. Hunter shrugged callously.
“She fooled everyone as the wife of an American diplomat at the queen’s shindig in Great Britain last year. Rae’s damn good-”
“-at handling weapons and neutralizing threats,” Hunter cut in, getting tired of sounding like a bastard. “But she’d be culled the minute she walked through the door. Plus, no one would believe I was involved with her.”
Let it go, Korbin.
Black eyes continued to damn him via the mirror.
Hunter drew a breath of resolve and added one final slam he was glad Rae couldn’t hear and doubted Korbin would share. “She might fool world leaders attending tonight, but not those raised with old money. The Wentworth guest list is based on financial power first, political markers second. All the training in the world doesn’t cover the tiny nuances these women learn from birth.”
“Men bring trophy brides to these things, right? I think she could handle walking around looking gorgeous. Looking happy to be with you might have tested her skills.”
Hunter noted the ping of irritation in Korbin’s voice and the relentless defensiveness on Rae’s behalf.
Big mistake, Korbin.
Dangerous to care that way about another agent.
But it was Korbin’s mistake to make.
Hunter cranked his attitude wide open, determined to shut down any further discussion. “Even with Rae’s extensive speech training, I still knew she came from a London gutter the first time I talked to her.”
“So?”
“I’m not known for dating sewer prostitutes.”
Korbin didn’t say anything. Hunter noted his knuckles on the steering wheel whitened in a death grip.
Anger punched through the car from both ends.
Hunter pressed his elbow down hard on the door handle, embossing the soft leather. His finger muscles wanted to tighten, but he kept his hand open, relaxed looking to the casual observer.
Korbin would see what the world had to see-a Thornton-Payne heir who disdained anything and anyone who failed to measure up to his lofty standards.
A man whose blood ran so cold it could freeze a syringe.
Hunter had come by that blood naturally.
Only Eliot had ever known when Hunter’s gut twisted with hidden anger… or pain. Eliot could always separate the façade Hunter showed the world from the truth.
That nothing-matters-to-me mask had been formed the night before Hunter’s seventh birthday as he and his five-year-old brother Todd witnessed another argument from where they hid at the top of the stairs. His mother had taught him how to sit silent as a shadow. She backhanded him and Todd over any infraction, particularly Hunter’s sharp tongue. But wife number one, better known as Mother Dearest, hit her limit when his dad ordered her to spend more time with her children.
Their gorgeous statuesque mother had marched across the marble foyer with her Mercedes keys in hand. His dad stepped into her path, telling her, “Your car’s locked in the garage until you start acting like a real mother.”
“What? Giving birth is pretty damn real, but I never agreed to be a nursemaid. I kept my end of the deal. You got the two kids you wanted. Heirs to the Thornton-Payne dynasty. You should be grateful as hell they favor me and didn’t turn out looking like trolls.”
Hunter had never looked at his dad the way he had right then, seeing the wide-set eyes, thick eyebrows, hook nose, and short stature. His father visibly shriveled in that moment, his voice sad when he said, “I thought having children would soften you, but you’re just a cold gold-digging bitch. Can’t you at least act like a mother? I keep you in jewels and cars and clothes. What else do you want?”
“My freedom. If you think I’m going to live like a prisoner with snotty kids, you’re wrong. I’m over this.” She squared her shoulders, looking down at her husband with evil twitching her lips. “I want a divorce… and custody of the boys, which won’t be hard for me to win since you’re never home. Don’t look so surprised. I’m more of a mother than you are a father anyhow.”
Even though Hunter spent most of his days assuring Todd their mother liked them, he’d had his doubts. Until that moment, he’d also suffered a child’s need to know he was loved. He watched, still not sure he could trust the sincerity of her words.
“I see your game,” his father said in a quiet voice shaking with fury. “You only want the boys to hold over me so you can get more money than agreed to in the prenuptial.”
“Even if that was true I wouldn’t wage a battle against your team of lawyers for more money.” His mother had laughed sarcastically through her perfect lips. “What do you care? You’re never around. Just pay me enough to hire decent help to take care of the pain-in-the-asses and neither one of us will have to deal with them, but I want my freedom.”
Todd whimpered. Hunter cupped his brother’s mouth to keep him from giving away their position.
His father lifted his chin. “I will not give up my sons.”
That’s when Hunter saw a gleam of victory in his mother’s green eyes. She said, “In that case, here’s my only offer, and it’s good for twenty-four hours. I get everything in the prenuptial plus two million. That’s a million for each kid.”
She’d sold him and his brother with no more thought than she’d have given to pawning a diamond ring. Actually, she might have shed a tear over losing the jewelry.
From that day forward, Hunter held his trust close, refusing to risk letting go until Eliot forced him to take a leap of faith.
The limo slowed and turned right onto the road to the Wentworth estate.
“You’ve got being an arrogant, cold-hearted snob down to a science.” Korbin’s sarcasm cut with a razor’s edge. “Doubt anyone else on the team could pull off your level of asshole-or even wants to. We’re lucky to have someone who’s born to it.”
“Did you come out of the womb a dickhead or develop that jockstrap personality on your own?” Hunter considered the heat in Korbin’s anger over the issue with Rae. Sounded too much like that of a sack mate instead of a teammate. Maybe he should warn Korbin only a fool would break Joe’s rule of no fraternizing with a teammate.
But he didn’t know if Korbin and Rae were doing the midnight tango or not.
He didn’t care.
Joe and Retter’s problem.
Hunter had no trouble keeping everything in a professional capacity on a mission. That way he never had to think about anything unrelated to the job.
Like the possibility of watching his only true friend fall to his death.
Korbin swung the car left, then stopped at the gate to clear Wentworth’s entrance security before continuing down a one-way drive bordered with spruce trees. Tiny blue-white lights glittered along the branches. He pulled into the circular drive that encapsulated a granite fountain with a bronze fifteen-foot-tall sculpture of a fierce Poseidon battling a sea serpent.
Not what Hunter would have expected to find in front of a French Country-styled home sprawled under seductive up-lighting and custom steel-and-bronze sconces.
The wealthy called any oddity “style.”
Four valets attended vehicles. Two doormen stood at an arched entrance with custom gold-plated double doors. A smattering of international luxury sports cars and sedans lined the expansive horseshoe drive, along with stretch limos. The rest of the vehicles were likely stashed in a hidden lot on the estate.
Korbin parked and hopped out, which thankfully prevented any further conversation.
The car door on Hunter’s left swung open.
Shoulders straight, Korbin looked every inch a professional driver without a trace of a smirk or attitude on his face. Hunter hadn’t thought he had it in him, but Korbin had proved more than once he also had ice water running through his jugular.
When Hunter stepped onto the driveway paved with stones cut in swirling designs, he paused to straighten his cuffs. The temperature had dropped with the last rays of sun, leaving the air cooled to a frosty mid-forties.
Korbin closed the door and slowed as he walked past Hunter’s shoulder long enough to whisper, “Asshole or not, we’ve got your back.” He climbed in and drove away.
Hunter pinched his silk cuff so hard the material should have turned to powder. He missed Eliot at the strangest times. Eliot would have also called him an asshole, but in a way intended to draw a smile instead of blood.
Screw it. Hunter had a package to retrieve and a killer to find.
He took several steps forward, pausing to lift his phone from the inside pocket of his tux and tilting his chin down as though to check a text message.
In truth, he used that moment to take stock of the exterior security mixed in with the valets.
A car door opened and closed behind him, offering a plausible reason to turn so he could scan the rest of the setting.
His gaze bottlenecked at the woman exiting a black corporate sedan. Age around thirty, maybe five foot five, shapely, in a soft inviting way. She’d wrapped her curvaceous body in a dark green dress with a black sash and black heels. Intriguing.
He continued pressing random digits on his cell phone so he could enjoy the delightful vision more closely while she dug around in her glittery evening bag. She wore her curly brown hair piled high, screwed into some kind of style that showed off sparkling earrings, a matching necklace, and the sweet, sweet curve of her neck. Inexpensive costume jewelry. Minimal makeup, little more than dressing up her simple face, though her lips did have a delicious appeal.
Something in her movements and face seemed familiar.
Did he know her?
Didn’t look like someone he knew socially… or had dated.
She didn’t resemble the rail-thin, self-absorbed females with a penchant for exotic jewelry and one-of-a-kind designer clothing he’d tolerate for a night.
Curly Locks didn’t have a drop of blue blood in her.
A plus in his book.
But how did she know the Wentworths?
Hunter prepared to dismiss her as interesting but not significant enough to be noted when she lifted her head and glanced around as though getting her bearings.
Her gaze crashed into his and her eyes widened.
He stared into anxious turquoise-green eyes. Dark lashes framed the worried gaze that once again brought on a sense of déjà vu.
Had he met her somewhere?
Where?
She lingered a second longer, the extra look making him think she found his face familiar, too, but the moment ended abruptly. She broke eye contact and rushed up the four wide steps flanked by marble columns and disappeared inside.
Probably one of those “everyone has a twin” things.
But he’d investigate further once he had time.
Never dismiss anything unusual on an op.
He stepped forward, affecting the casual pace of the slightly bored. Passing through the arched entrance integrated into a two-story wall of glass, he paused for the doorman, who bulged with a censorious air.
Can’t allow the unworthy to slip through.
Hunter withdrew the silver-and-black invitation that had been couriered to his hotel at noon. He handed the card off without waiting for a comment before walking on.
A Thornton-Payne was never denied entrance to any social event.
He strolled through a brief hallway boasting art rarely seen outside museums, likely owned for generations. If any of the Rembrandts, Monets, or Rubenses could talk about what went on inside this home the result would be a bestselling gossip book. The Wentworth family had been mired in mystique and rumors that rivaled the Kennedys’. The buzz of voices lured him ahead to a ballroom with soaring gilded ceilings that boasted hand-blown chandeliers shaped as flowers and vines. Classical notes of Bach floated from a pearl-white baby grand between quiet conversation supplied by over two hundred patrons awaiting the entrance of Gwenyth Wentworth, who sat on the board of the Kore Women’s Center.
But her father, Peter Wentworth, still led the revered family.
And Peter would have died in an explosion four years ago if Eliot hadn’t given his life to ensure Hunter made it off that cliff in Kauai to deliver the plans for a terrorist attack on the UK hospital.
So what was the connection between Peter Wentworth and the Fratelli de il Sovrano, a secret organization that had seriously threatened American security more than once in the past two years?
BAD disarmed an attack on the U.S. Congress last year with the help of an infamous electronic informant known only as Mirage who worked via the internet until she was captured by a fellow BAD agent and unmasked as Gabrielle Saxe. Gabrielle became involved in their mission after being contacted via a cryptic postcard by Linette, a woman she’d known as a girl when they were both teens at a private European school before Linette disappeared.
By the end of the mission to uncover the Fratelli’s plot, Linette had become a mole inside the Fratelli camp, where she remained against her will. Supposedly.
Hunter had yet to be convinced Linette was entirely trustworthy. No BAD agent had met her in person.
But that might change tonight since, according to her last missive, Linette was supposed to be in attendance at the Wentworth event along with three Fratelli superiors, each from a different country-a UK representative, a Russian spokesman, and one from the U.S. known as Fra Vestavia, who BAD had a keen interest in.
Vestavia had infiltrated the DEA, as Robert Brady, then disappeared before being exposed as a traitor and was now perched at the top of BAD’s list of wanted criminals.
Hunter had his own elite wanted list, with the assassin who killed Eliot first in line to answer for his sins.
But Hunter’s assignment for BAD was priority one.
After four years of patience, he could not afford the mistake of rushing.
Once he retrieved the USB memory key Linette planned to drop tonight, he did intend to review the information before passing the key to BAD. Linette indicated the key would include copies of kill photos Vestavia had received, the pictures marked with an unusual emblem as confirmation of the contractor’s kill.
She described the spoon-shaped design as having a smiling skull with sunglasses in the bowl and the body of a chameleon on the handle. The same design engraved on a titanium baby spoon with a carved Jackson’s chameleon for a handle found by FBI at Brugmann’s home on the coast of Kauai the night Eliot had died.
The FBI had dubbed the assassin in the Jackson Chameleon-the JC killer-and connected that death with some that went back ten years.
Why a baby spoon? A macabre calling card.
As if the shooter had taken to killing since birth.
Hunter pushed those thoughts out of the way and continued moving through scattered pods of guests, careful not to make eye contact. Most gave him a subtle double take.
They were deciding if he was who they thought he was.
BAD assets scattered throughout the party had entered as catering and additional security, filling in holes created when specific personnel on the staff came down with a case of intestinal flu.
Amazing what modern medicine can do to cure or to induce an illness.
Everything was in place for a successful mission.
BAD agent Carlos Delgado entered Hunter’s field of view wearing a navy suit and a wire curling from his ear. He’d inserted as part of additional security for the event. Venezuelan by birth, Delgado’s dark eyes squinted with suspicion at everything he observed.
Carlos coordinated the on-site team.
He was also the one who’d captured Gabrielle last year and understood the risk involved with trusting an informant no one at the agency had ever met or could vouch for.
Gabrielle used her amazing electronic skills for BAD now, lived with Carlos, and believed completely in her friend Linette’s credibility.
All well and good, but Hunter hadn’t survived this long in covert work by giving trust so easily.
Before tonight, Linette’s only contact with BAD had been limited to electronic means, which made her an easy gamble to stake a bet on until now. But the Fratelli could discover her duplicity at any time. If that happened before she had a chance to alert BAD, the Fratelli could use her to flush out anyone she’d been in contact with, which would expose Hunter.
Just another reason this type of op fell squarely on the shoulders of BAD when it came to walking into situations other agencies would hesitate to touch.
BAD sometimes had to move on an opportunity with minimum intelligence and maximum gut instinct.
Heading toward him, a sultry redhead slowed her steps, intentionally trying to grab Hunter’s eye when she passed. He returned polite interest.
Any more and she’d have doubted his authenticity.
The room oozed gorgeous women. Could one of them be Linette? Much simpler for her to identify Hunter than for him to pick her out. All she had to do was watch for him to pick up the memory stick inside a container the size of a lipstick tube once she gave the signal she’d dropped it outside a specific window.
Once that was done, he’d search the mansion covertly to find where the three Fras were meeting.
Every BAD agent backing him up tonight was exceptional. Lethal. But they couldn’t defend against an unidentified threat.
He noted two more agents… then a green satin dress and twisted mop of curly hair swished into view.
The woman he’d seen outside.
She sipped a flute of champagne. No, she pretended to drink. The liquid level in the crystal glass never lowered.
One of the catering staff offered her a selection from a tray covered in canapés decorated as works of art, but she refused with an absentminded shake of her head, then asked a question.
When a couple moved out of the way, the server’s face came into full view. Rae was answering the woman’s question.
That works.
If Curly Locks wasn’t talking to anyone else and hadn’t come to enjoy free drink and food, why was she here?
Rae handled the tray with deft ability. Above her wide smile, her eyes kept track of everything in her area. The minute her gaze bounced to Hunter he lifted his chin to bring her to him.
Didn’t take her long to reach him on those long legs.
She lowered the tray into view and described several palatable offerings while two elderly men he recognized as regulars at major fund-raising events passed on her left.
“What did that woman ask you?” Hunter pretended to labor over his selection.
“She wanted to know what time the guest of honor would arrive and I told her I wasn’t privy to the Wentworth event schedule.” An eyebrow winged in amused curiosity. “There’s a woman here you don’t know?”
Hunter fingered a goat cheese-encrusted canapé from Rae’s tray. “Wouldn’t say that.”
Rae smiled as though she was thrilled to serve a guest, proving she could act with the best of them. When she moved on, Hunter searched for Curly Locks.
Green and black satin slashed through the room with quiet determination.
He might have dismissed her as unimportant if not for his training and if tonight didn’t involve a mission centering around three Fratelli expected to meet with Gwenyth.
And the familiar feeling about the woman stirred his curiosity further.
Curly Locks might have an innocent reason for being here.
Then again, she might not.
If she posed an issue of any sort that might interfere with tonight’s mission he’d alert Carlos, who would give the order to have her removed. Silently.