Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(123)

Santos shrugged and seemed to attempt to look charming. “You know how these things go. Sometimes opportunity knocks and we must answer the door. I explained that we would certainly be more than happy to give you a small percentage of our latest endeavor.”

Yeah, Mia just bet they would. Or they would put a bullet through the doc and take over her clinic. She doubted there was truly honor among these thieves. If Hope McDonald thought her research would be served by murdering her business partners, she would do it in a heartbeat.

“Is everything arranged?” Santos asked, looking around.

The doctor nodded. “Of course. We’ve got a small holding cell for your new friend. I take it Dr. McDonald isn’t with you. I was so hoping to meet her.”

“We all were,” the mountain said in a thick Aussie accent. “She’s kind of become legend around these parts. There’s apparently a bunch of people in Liberia who definitely know her name.”

McDonald’s first trials had been on unsuspecting patients at her sister’s clinic in Liberia. Faith McDonald Smith had thought she was saving a small part of the world and her sister had been using her patients.

Santos’s eyes tightened slightly and that relaxed set to his body suddenly wasn’t so casual. “She’ll be along in a few days. I’m surprised. I thought there would be a few locals. Don’t we need someone to help with the plane? We need to make sure it’s ready to go at all times. That was part of our arrangement.”

The mountain moved in front of the doctor as though he could sense the change in Santos, too. “We thought you would want privacy for the girl.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

What was happening? Mia’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest. There was some tension running through the room that she didn’t understand.

“Tomas, would you please escort our guest back on the plane. Now.” The gun made an appearance.

Theo’s arm went tight around her waist and he started to back up.

What? Why were they getting back on the plane? She couldn’t get back on the plane. Case would come for her here. If she got back on that plane, he wouldn’t know where she was.

“Why? What’s wrong? Our orders were to settle in here and wait for Mother.” Theo simply picked her up when Mia tried to drag him down.

“This isn’t right. Something’s off. I don’t think we’re alone,” Santos said.

“Well, you always did have excellent instincts, you f*cker.” Ezra stepped out from behind a barricade of boxes.

She felt her eyes widen. “Ezra?”

Santos, Theo, and Robert suddenly had guns pointed at her bodyguard, who was likely going to give her a pretty stern lecture.

“Ezra was his brother,” Santos said, his eyes firmly on his target.

The mountain of man with the doctor backed away, covering her as they retreated to what looked to be an office. When the door opened, she saw someone she never expected to see.

Her brother was standing there. Drew was here in Africa, waiting for her.

That meant Case was here. Tears pricked her eyes. He’d come for her. He was here and now she could practically feel him.

“Give me the girl. I brought her brother with me. We can split the money. He’s ready to transfer funds as we speak. You don’t give me the girl and that big guy will kill Drew Lawless and you get nothing,” Ezra said, his voice flat.

She went still. Could he be telling the truth?

Santos’s whole body was tense, ready for action. “I’m supposed to believe you’re turning on the Agency for money?”

Ezra didn’t seem freaked out to have so many guns on him. He strode forward. “Why not? I’m never getting back in the field. Fuck ’em. Isn’t that what you said? I thought about trying to get my hands on the drug, but there’s too much heat on McDonald. So when I realized you’d nabbed Mia, I decided it was time to make some cash. It was easy to tell her brother that I would arrange the transfer. He got on the plane himself. And it was very easy to figure out that you had to be dealing with Dr. Gibson. The Agency’s been looking into her, by the way. We suspect her of arms dealing.”

Bullshit. This was Case’s plan. What was Ezra doing?

He was trying to get her out of the line of fire. Case was trying to ensure her safety before he fought for his brother.

It would have been easier for the Taggart brothers to simply overwhelm them. They would have had the element of surprise, but Case had chosen to risk the entire operation to ensure she wouldn’t be stuck in the middle of it.

He was choosing her. Somewhere in this big hanger was a superhot cowboy who was so getting laid as soon as they got out of this mess.

He was getting married, too, because she was never letting that man go.

“Yes, she’s in trouble with some of her clients,” Santos replied. “It’s why she was willing to cut a deal with us.”

“Now she’s cut a deal with me because I might have mentioned just how big this deal would be. They were surprised since you’d promised them a five percent cut of a million. All I had to do was mention that 4L Software was involved and suddenly they were very open to a new partnership.” Ezra clapped his hands together. “So what do you say? Let’s reunite brother and sister and get this thing done. He won’t transfer the money until he’s with her. Let her join him in the office and we’ll talk about how we’re going to split the money. Let one of your guards take her. How about the blond one?”