Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(120)

Shit. They’d found the bodies, and it sounded like Nelson was already on the bridge. Or they might have heard all the shit that had just gone down.

“We never had to play it this way, you know,” Nelson continued. “We could have worked together. Alas, you had all the skills but lacked that special something I require in a partner.”

Yep, Ian had a conscience. Oh, it was a flexible conscience, but it was there. He also had a certain loyalty to his country that Nelson would find offensive. Fucker.

“Luckily, I managed to find a couple of friends to help me out along the way. They’ll be the ones who kill you if you don’t surrender right now and bring me the king of Loa Mali. I’ll need his computer as well. You see, I bombed his testing site so I really am going to need that computer. I’ll just have to kill his employees until he brings it to me.”

Thank god for soundproofing or the king would likely be martyring himself.

“Or maybe I’ll just start with the pretty lady in the white bikini.”

Ian’s body went cold.

A nasty chuckle came across the speakers. “You dressed her nicely for me, Tag. I’m going to enjoy her before I kill her. Or I could always reunite you. I have a soft spot for lovers. Especially when I was such a good matchmaker. Your choice, Tag. Your wife has five minutes before I slit her throat.”

“Stay calm,” Sean said.

“I am calm.” He was deadly calm. His focus had narrowed to one point in the world. Saving his wife. He laid out his options, shitty as they were, and came up with a plan.

“Do we have what he wants?” Simon asked.

Ian shook his head.

“We can always get the computer,” Sean said. “We have a copy so if we need to hand the computer over, I don’t think Kash would argue. He was horribly torn up about his guards. He won’t want Charlie’s death on his conscience.”

Ian nodded. “I’ll get it. I’ll do the trade.”

“You think he won’t just kill you on sight?” Sean asked.

That would be the smart play on Nelson’s part. It was what Ian would do if their roles were reversed. “I’ll password protect it. He doesn’t get the password until I have my wife. Then he’ll try to kill both of us.”

“I’m thinking that’s not a smashing plan, boss.” Simon shook his head.

“That’s because you don’t know what your part is yet. Get those bodies and some rope. What we need is a little chaos.” And a little time. The minute the Coast Guard showed up, all bets would be off.

His team leaned in and Ian told them the plan.





Chapter Nineteen

Charlie stood on the bridge, watching as Nelson’s men boarded the boat. She kept her eyes on the outside. It was better than seeing what Nelson had done to the crew.

They were lying in heaps of dead flesh, their corpses cooling. He’d just put out that he wouldn’t kill the rest of the king’s people if the king gave him what he wanted, but Charlie knew the truth. He would kill everyone. No matter how fast he got the data.

She’d seen what one of his men had attached to the side of the boat just under the water’s surface. He might have thought she wasn’t looking at the time, or maybe he didn’t care, but she knew damn well he intended to blow the yacht sky high. She’d also watched as he put the bomb’s trigger device in his pocket.

She had to get that device.

Unfortunately there were four guards watching over the bastard. The pirates were dressed in a mixture of camo and jeans and tank tops. They looked dirty and mean and very comfortable with AK-47s.

“Do you think he’s panicking, dear?” He put a hand on her shoulder.

She shivered and tried to step away. She was steady on her feet again, but her hands were still shaky.

His hold tightened. “Don’t. I wouldn’t want to be forced to make a point, Charlotte. I think Taggart will be more inclined to be helpful if you’re in one piece, so be a good girl and don’t flinch when I touch you.” His hand stroked her shoulder, but she couldn’t forget that he had a gun pressed to her side. “You might make me think you don’t want me, sweetheart.”

Nothing could make her mouth stop though. “I thought I made that plain when I turned down your first offer, Eli.”

“Or you could have just been playing hard to get.” He took a step back. “You know I understand the value of not giving in too soon. Sometimes you have to make a man work for it, don’t you? Charlotte, you’re a smart girl. We could use you. You have to know that Taggart is a bad bet at this point. Why else would you have contacted me?”

“I didn’t. It was my sister.” The last thing she needed was to play out the creep’s sexual fantasies. She was going to have such a long talk with her sister. If she survived this, Chelsea was getting off the information-gathering wagon forever. That kind of power had become a dangerous addiction for her.

He frowned and stepped over the captain’s body. “I should have known. Well, that’s a shame. I mean I’ll still try to recruit her because obviously she got all the brains in the family, but I was hoping for a f*ck buddy, too. I’ll have to take a pass on her. You got the looks. She got the brains. Taggart is going to lose his balls over a woman. I kind of love that. I wish the others were here to witness it. I’ve had to be in his shadow for years. I was an operative before he was old enough to join the Army. Then one day they recruit him out of black ops and put him on some f*cking pedestal. Well, I showed them.”