Page 53 of Hunted

It was reasonably comfortable and homey—much more than most safe houses Gunn had used, though it was clear from the lack of personal items that no one lived there. Even more unusual for safe houses, it was spotlessly clean and smelled faintly of lemon polish.

Aunt Jenn had struck again, no doubt.

They dumped their bags in the living room and staggered off to the kitchen with the mountain of Tupperware. Once it was in the fridge, Mikey headed for the bedroom, and Gunn pulled her back.

“Okay, before each of us starts pinging our contacts and going off in all directions, we need to make a plan.”

“And here I thought you wanted to make out,” Mikey said. “I’m disappointed.”

Gunn immediately pulled her against his chest and kissed her. Her lips were warm and sweet, and made him want to forget the mission entirely.

But they couldn’t do that, and she knew it as well as he did. Still keeping his arms around her, he said, “Okay. Here’s my thoughts. Everything we have so far hinges on whether or not you, as Angela Croft, can wangle an invite to this auction from McIntyre. If he won’t go for it, then we need to come up with a Plan B.”

“Are you doubting me? I’m insulted.” She nipped the side of his neck. Hard.

“A mission plan should always have contingencies.”

“Absolutely. And after I’m successful in getting the invitation? What then?”

He pressed his lips together. This was the part that could be a problem. “Then we need to contact Thanatos.”

He felt the vibration in his chest as Mikey started growling.

“I know,” he said. “But I got that first message from Switch on my pack-issued cell. Thanatos almost certainly has access to those messages, even though I left the actual phone with my truck. It would be stupid not to assume he’s sending a team. The last thing we need is to fuck this up because the good guys are tripping over each other like clowns in a circus.”

Mikey’s wolf was still growling, but Mikey was frowning, biting her lip. He knew she was thinking that the little girl might already be safe, if she hadn’t messed up Dobe’s mission.

He knew she wouldn’t take a chance on that happening again.

Finally she said, “I hate it, but you’re right. Do you think they’ll be willing to work with us? Or at least stay out of our way?”

Gunn said, “It depends how much we have to bargain with. An invitation to the auction would help a lot—it’s something they can’t get. So give it everything you’ve got.”

“On it.”

Michelangela unzipped her own bag and pulled out a cell phone spoofing device. She could program it to make any number she called from look like any number she wanted.

And she had to make Trevor McIntyre think she was calling him from the same phone her alias had always called him from.

Gunn said, “While you’re doing that, I’ll see what Switch has on those blueprints.”

Michelangela nodded, glad he wasn’t going to hang over her shoulder growling while she talked to McIntyre. Everything depended on her now. She had to make this good.

She went into the bedroom, plugged the phone into the spoofing device and placed the call.

Come on, answer. I don’t want to fuck around with voice mail. She needed to know now how much leverage they had with Thanatos.

On the third ring, Trevor’s smooth, I-know-I’m-sexy voice came over the line.

“Darling!” she said. “It’s Angela.”

“Angela! How are you? Where are you?” He sounded slightly anxious, which was unlike him, but his business had taken a potential hit when Dobe almost got through his security.

He went on, “You disappeared after that little kerfluffle in New York. And here I thought you were so interested in that Monet.”

Michelangela silently bared her teeth. The ‘kerfluffle’ he was referring to was the attempted kidnapping of the diplomat’s daughter, who had been staying as a ‘guest’ with her ‘father’ in the house Trevor had borrowed for the occasion.

No one knew she was the one who had prevented it, or that she’d disappeared because she was tracking Dobe.