Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(117)

“I told you. I’m Agency. My twin sister was MSS. Our mother smuggled me out at birth rather than abort me, but she kept in touch with my American family. When I found out my sister had been recruited, I joined the Agency to try to get her out. I found her and tried to bring her with me to the States. She told me everything. She never wanted this life, but they forced it on her. Her escape went wrong and she died in my arms and I took her place. I’m spying for Ten on the inside of MSS now. He doesn’t know I’m on board, though, or he might have contacted me to tell me to look for you.” She smiled a little. “She liked you, Tag. My sister said she didn’t have to fake it with you.”

If she wasn’t lying through her teeth, then that was a hell of a story. “She still shot my ass.”

“She shot your chest, Tag.” Jiang Kun, or whatever her name was, winked. “Now let’s get this thing done. And you need to tell Ten that he has a leak. That’s the only way they’re here right now. Nelson doesn’t have the research. He should have waited until the blonde bitch did her job. Only one thing changed and that’s your arrival. This is about you. He knew you were coming. Get your ass moving. I have to protect my cover, Tag. I owe it to my handler and my sister. This is the one shot you get at me helping you out, and I’ll shoot if you open that gorgeous mouth.”

He grabbed the SIG and followed her down the stairs. If she’d wanted his ass dead, she would have taken him out while his back was turned. It proved her loyalty more than any words could say. Well, more than any words except one. “What’s Ten’s middle name?”

She sighed. “Alistair. There, I’ve said the secret password. Let’s go.”

Ten didn’t have a middle name. Alistair was a code that let Ian know she really was one of Ten’s operatives. “Where’s my brother and how do we get off this shithole?”

Her eyes rolled. “This is a mega yacht. It’s not a shithole, but we need to make our way to the other end of the ship. There’s a dive port with equipment. Getting under the water is going to be better than taking one of the tenders. They’ll just shoot those.”

She was probably right, and he turned with her, noting the position of the guard she’d sent “napping.” He stepped over the body and continued along the narrow corridor. He could hear the sound of feet slamming on the deck above him.

“They’re on board.” He kept his voice just above a whisper.

“They’ll secure the top deck before they move down. We have a few minutes. It’s a big-ass boat.” She pressed her back against the wall as she got closer to the middle of the boat. “So you’ve figured out the whole ‘no-oil automobile’ thing?”

“The king mentioned it.”

“We need those plans.”

He knew exactly what would happen if the Agency got the plans. “So we can hide them because the oil lobby would bury the idea?”

She frowned. “We wouldn’t do that.”

Fuck yeah they would. “Let’s just get what we need to get and slide on out of here.”

He needed to get to Charlie. He needed to hold her in his arms again, but he had some work to do first. Part of that was making sure Sean was okay. As for the rest of it, he would prefer that the king dealt with the whole save the world shit. The save the whole world shit should come from a person who cared, and that wouldn’t be him or his government or the apparently na?ve double agent.

“The office is this way,” she said. “We have to get through the living area first. Keep your head down.”

He moved through the large living space, keeping his head down, his body low to the ground. The starboard side of the living room was a row of windows that looked out to the sea. Now it showed the boots of the pirates Nelson had hired as they boarded the yacht. How many were on boat? Twenty? He hoped less. Luckily it was a big boat and it looked like they had split into pairs to search it. Two pairs of boots crossed his line of sight and then disappeared as they turned the corner for the door.

“Stop,” Kun said, her voice a whisper. “They’ll see us. Hide. You take one and I’ll take the other. Quietly.”

She disappeared behind a large lounge chair, and Ian put his back to the sofa. They wouldn’t immediately see him, but if they came far enough into the room, there would be nowhere to hide.

A firefight would bring more of them down here. Ian eased the knife out of his boot, his adrenaline pumping.

There was the sound of boots on the deck and the two spoke to each other in Somali as they rushed into the room.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that they were carrying AK-47s, the long barrels pointed outward as they moved through the room. It was a big gun, so much easier to pry away because there was more of it to catch.

Ian heard the familiar crunching sound of a man’s neck being twisted and broken. Before he even had a thought about how disturbing it was that the sound was so familiar, a booted foot came into view and Ian struck. Before the man could do more than shout, Ian reached up, grabbed the body of the gun and hauled the man down. The pirate hit the floor, and Ian had his blade in his neck before he could pull the trigger.

Nice. Quiet. Really messy. Blood was already spilling across the pristine white carpet. He hated wet work. Unfortunately, he was really good at it.

“Let’s go before they find these bodies.” Kun was already moving.