Page 76 of Her Defiant Warrior

“I haven’t killed him. Hopefully, he’ll last long enough so that I can have you all dumped back at the labor camps.”

Jase grimaced. Ryker needed a hospital. His right pupil was blown, and it was taking all he had to stay upright. When Bull had pressed him into the front seat of the most immaculate landscape truck Jase had ever seen, it looked like Ryker might puke again. How was that even possible since he had eaten none of the food they’d been given? He’d watched as they drove away, with grass clippings floating away behind them.

Jase tried not to worry about Ryker, and instead think about how they planned to assassinate the prince at that evening’s ceremony. After hearing the conversation between Amanda and Ely, Jase knew this wasn’t a kidnapping attempt. As they came up to the museum, their limousine was whisked to the front area where dignitaries were dropped off.

When they were ushered into the building Ely was flagged down by three other men in business suits.

Nothing clandestine going on here.

“You will go with them,” Ely says as directs Jase and Gideon to a short black man and two tall Caucasians, one blonde, one red-head. “Follow them closely,” he says to the shorter of the three. He is obviously the man in charge. “Fifteen minutes after I call, the power to the lights need to be shut off. Do you understand me? Without that happening, Roger and Luc cannot depart.”

The black man gave Ely a serious look. “I understand. And our orders after that remain the same?”

“Yes.”

Apparently, everyone thought two laborers were dumb. Jase managed not to roll his eyes.

Jase glanced over at Gideon, then looked over at the robot fish flying toward them above the lobby floor. Yep, they planned to kill them as soon as they’d accomplished their mission.

* * *

Jase spotted Nolan when they were in front of a display of the Amazon forest. When he looked over at Gideon, his teammate just nodded as he kept his focus on the display in front of them.

Jase tapped the red-head on the arm.

“Toilet.”

“No.”

“Toilet,” he said again.

The red-head got in his face and growled. “No.”

“I either crap my pants, or one of you goes with me to the toilet,” Jase gritted out the words.

“I’ll take him,” the blonde said.

Jase walks slowly toward the sign that indicated the men’s room. By the time he got there, Kostya was walking out of the handicapped stall. “This one is free,” he said as he walked by Jase. Jase headed in and found Nolan standing on the toilet seat.

“Their boss is going to text these idiots fifteen minutes before we’re supposed to shut off the lights,” Jase whispers. “After we’re done, they’ll kill us.”

“Naturally,” Nolan drawls. “Where’s Ryker?”

“He’s in bad shape. Concussion. He needs to be in a hospital. Immediately. They took him in a landscaping truck. We drove in together, but when we got here, we drove to the front. They went to what I assume is the parking area.”

Nolan nodded. “Do you think that the landscaping truck has something to do with the plot?”

“Yeah,” Jase said. “It was a high-end private landscape truck. Definitely could have something to do with this place.”

“I’ll let the others know.”

“Two more things. The guy who paid for the hit on the prince, his name, is Sergei. Apparently, the prince is having an affair with his wife. Also, Brax has been made. They’re going to let the woman use him until the C-4 has been recovered, then he’s toast.”

Nolan paled. “Good info.” He reached down and flushed the toilet. He handed Jase a phone. “Keep this handy. It’s on vibrate. We’ll keep you informed of what’s going on.”

Jase nodded, and grabbed some toilet paper and shoved it into his pocket with the phone, then opened the door and stepped out.

“Come on,” his blonde babysitter said.