Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(36)

“How obvious was it?” Again, he was thinking about the cops. It might be much easier to draw a line from point A to point B if they found holes where none should be.

“I barely found it. He put it in the bottom corner of the glass. I cracked it a little so it didn’t look so neat and stuffed a tissue in it. It’s what I would do if I accidently broke a window,” Jesse said.

It might work. It might not. “I don’t suppose the f*cker left casings behind?”

“No,” Simon replied. “He was very neat, very clean. I managed to bribe one of the security guards. I convinced him I was a PI looking for a cheating spouse. He brought up the security cameras from the hallway at approximately the time we were looking at. A man roughly six foot or so wearing a ball cap got on the elevator carrying a briefcase at the right time. I didn’t get his face, though. He was careful to keep his head down.”

Ian huffed a long breath out. What a shitty day. “Well, it’s good to know Denisovitch trains his people well. We can bet he’ll try again. We need to come up with new protocols concerning Charlotte.”

What was he supposed to do with her? If she wouldn’t leave and hide, he had no idea how he was supposed to just let her run around the streets of Dallas alone. He had no doubt she could take care of herself. The question was how much chaos would she cause while she did it?

He had to keep an eye on her and that meant she would have to stay with him. Fuck.

He glanced over and watched her through the open blinds. She was sitting in her chair in Phoebe’s office, both women quiet. Phoebe’s head was down, her eyes on the computer screen while Charlie’s were squarely on her hands. She stared down at her lap, and Ian wondered what she was thinking.

Plotting most likely. She always looked so pretty when she plotted.

He had to take her into the dungeon tonight. If they didn’t get horrifically murdered first. Charlie would be kneeling at his feet in Sanctum, putting on a show for Derek Brighton.

Was she putting on a show for him, too?

Alex stepped into the room, holding out Ian’s car keys. “I moved your car into the parking garage. I thought it would be better to take Charlie out that way than to walk into the open.”

That woman was going to give him a migraine. “Thanks. I’ll make sure I put her in the trunk when I leave for Sanctum.”

“She’ll love that. No, we’re leaving your car here. We’ll take mine. I doubt they’re looking for mine.” Alex sat down beside him, his eyes going over the photos. “Nice. So our assassin doesn’t mind taking out a few civilians. What is Charlie going to want to do about her sister?”

He hadn’t even thought about Chelsea, the sister Charlie had betrayed him to save. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was interested in meeting Chelsea Dennis. “Send someone out to her place. Bring her to Sanctum tonight. We’ll regroup there. Simon, why don’t you and Jesse go and nab the girl?”

Simon’s eyebrow arched. “What if the girl doesn’t want to be nabbed?”

Alex shot Jesse a nasty look. “Well, I happen to know your little partner there is quite good with duct tape.”

“I said I was sorry about kidnapping Eve.” Jesse turned a bright red. “I’ll go get the address from Charlie. Wait. I shot her. Maybe you should do it, Simon.”

“You really are going to have to stop assaulting people who end up being your team members.” Simon stood and Jesse followed him. “Can the girl write out the address? I understand she’s on lockdown.”

She was going to stay that way. The longer Charlie didn’t actually talk to members of his team, the better. “Adam has it along with a phone number. He’s already talked to the apparently very abrupt Miss Dennis. They’re coming up with a plan to try to flush this guy out. I don’t want you bugging Charlie. Charlie is thinking about all the things she’s done wrong today. I’ll see you at the club in two hours. Make sure this Chelsea girl has the proper clothes if she’s going on the dungeon floor. If she’s not, she can sit in the locker room until I’m ready to question her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled with the invitation,” Simon muttered.

Probably not. According to Adam, she was spitting mad. Ian was really just cutting her off at the pass. If he didn’t bring her in, she would show up on his doorstep and likely get a bullet to the head, and then he would have to deal with a dead girl and he couldn’t explain that away to Brighton. He needed to know where the Dennis sisters were at all times. If Chelsea was anything like her sister, she could start an apocalypse without really thinking about it.

Ian pressed the com button on the phone. “Adam, could you join us?”

There was a slight pause, and he could have sworn he heard the f*cker giggle and Serena telling him to stop. Poor Serena. She was going to have two kids soon. “Yes, of course, boss. I’ll be right down.”

“So Charlotte’s on lockdown?” Alex asked, his eyes sliding Ian’s way. There was a slight grin on his face.

“What’s lockdown?” Jesse asked.

“She’s not allowed to speak without permission,” Simon explained.

“We can do that?”

“If only it worked that way.” Simon stared out the window.

What was that grin of Alex’s about? He tried not to think about it. “Yes. I thought it best to put her in high protocol. That way I don’t have to listen to her. It’s the one good thing about having to take her into Sanctum tonight.”