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“Ms. Saber, you’re absolutely right,” I said with a confident smile. “You’ve kept your side of the deal. Jane Pennington will keep hers.”
Nicole gave me a puzzled look, taken somewhat off guard at the way I’d spoken for Jane. She drew a breath, but I spoke before she could.
“The congresswoman and Victor will leave now,” I went on as if I was the one running the entire show, “and Philip and I will remain here with you until we’re certain you’ve allowed her to leave without any further harassment.”
Nicole narrowed her eyes, but I shifted my attention to Jane. “You and Victor head on out,” I said, doing my best to appear totally self-assured and in control. “Philip and I will check in with you later.” I smiled as though all was right with the world. Victor met my eyes and gave me a slight nod filled with gratitude and worry. He’d sensed the same thing about Nicole and knew I was playing a risky game. Once Jane was out, we’d be little more than a doomed rearguard and would have to rely on Nicole Saber’s sense of honor and fair play and . . .
Honor? Fair play? Yeah, this was going to get ugly, but I sure as shit didn’t intend to be doomed.
Chapter 24
“Angel, what are you doing?” Naomi said in my ear.
“It’s all good,” I said to both Jane and Naomi.
Jane
opened her mouth to protest, and Andrew stepped forward. “That’s an excellent idea,” he said. He didn’t want Jane to stay any more than I did. Sure, our reasons were different—I was worried about her well-being, while he was worried about his own ass if Mommy Saber did something even more stupid to a member of Congress—but right now our goal was the same. “I’m sure you have a very busy schedule, Dr. Pennington,” Andrew continued and gave a nod toward one of the security guards—Boat Launch Guy. “Edwards will show you out.”
Victor took Jane’s elbow. “This way, ma’am.” He began to move her toward Edwards and the door.
Jane shot me a distressed look, and I gave her my best get the fuck out, and we’ll stay on it smile in return. “Maybe we can do lunch tomorrow,” I told her. “I’ll have my people call your people.”
Her lips twitched in what I knew was a smile forced for me, then Victor hustled her through the door, and she was gone.
Andrew and the security guard followed them out. The door closed, and the world abruptly felt smaller. What the hell was I thinking stranding Philip and me alone in the middle of Saber Land? Then again, Philip hadn’t argued with my decision to stick around. Either he and I were on the same page, or he had a plan of his own brewing—though somehow I doubted his was quite as psychotic as mine. He was probably considering something sane and logical, such as trying to get more info about where Pietro was being held.
He met my eyes, expression grave and determined. Pietro was in deep trouble, that much we knew. We might never have another chance to gain some sort of advantage. We were deep in enemy territory, in the lion’s den, the mouth of the dragon, up shit creek, whatever the hell you wanted to call it. But that simply meant we were in the perfect position to fuck up Saberton’s world. I was more than ready to deliver some southern smackdown, but I needed to hear that Jane was out of the building first.
Fists planted on her hips, Nicole glared at the door, as if blaming it for allowing Jane to leave, then swung her attention to me, her expression an ugly mix of anger and disgust. “What a disgrace to this country that a nest of zombies,” she sneered the word, “can enthrall a U.S. Congresswoman.”
“Yes, it is,” I said agreeably. And slowly. This was me, stalling for time while looking for an opening. Hell, she thought I was a hick anyway, so might as well lay down some serious southern drawl. “But, lucky for you, it’s going to get you closer to that defense contract you want, right?” C’mon, Naomi, tell me Jane’s out. I flicked a brief glance to Philip, then very casually waggled the fingers of one hand toward Nicole in the desperate hope he’d pick up on my scheme. With only two guards and Nicole in the room, we wouldn’t have a better opportunity.
Philip made a quiet strangled noise in the back of his throat. Oh, good. He figured it out. Yet on the heels of that thought, worry and doubt surged in. It was one thing to risk myself in a totally crazy and spur of the moment plan to seize Nicole Saber and hold her hostage in exchange for Pietro, but I’d sucked Philip in as well, with zero warning or time to plan. And what if he thought I had some other ridiculous plan in mind? Damn it, this whole thing would be easier if the zombie parasite came with telepathy.
Nicole pursed her lips, and some of the anger left her eyes. “If she follows through,” she huffed, but it was clear her confidence was making a comeback. She still had Pietro, and now she’d seen for herself how much Jane treasured him. A cold smile curved her mouth, and I knew it was because her desperate and clever mind was contemplating the many things she could accomplish with the congresswoman in her control.
Not on my watch, sweetheart. Not with my favorite woman in the whole fucking world.
“Oh, she’ll follow through,” I assured Nicole as I edged closer. Shitfuckingdamn, wasn’t Jane clear yet? I tried to remember how much time it had taken us to walk from the limo to the conference room. Surely it had been at least that long since Jane and Victor left? “Of course, Jane has some serious ways to get back at you if something happens to Pietro,” I continued, “but there’s no need to worry about that since you’re keeping your side of the deal.” Ha! Yeah, right. “Jane simply wants Mr. Ivanov back, not revenge. She’ll give you the influence you need.”
Nicole gave a sharp nod. I shot a quick look toward Philip. His attention was locked on the two guards, which worked well enough for me. Even better, both guards were fully focused on Philip since he was obviously more of a threat than I was, badass clothing or not.
“Jane’s out,” Naomi murmured in my ear. “Are you about to do something Angel-like?”
“Absolutely,” I murmured as I focused on Nicole and psyched myself up. I could do this. I could totally take a hostage. I simply had to draw my gun, grab Nicole, get my back to the wall, and then demand Pietro’s release. Easy. Even a caveman could do it.
Heart pounding, I slid my hand to the small of my back, closed it around the butt of the little Glock and began to draw it—
The door opened, and I startled, a bit too focused on Nicole. Andrew stepped in, and I yanked at the Glock as I watched my window of opportunity begin to slam shut. Shit! The gun was caught on the holster somehow, but no one was looking my way yet, which meant I still had a chance. Except Nicole was turning toward the door as if to leave, and Andrew was almost between us. If I could just get the fucking gun out . . .
Weirdly enough, the sound of the gunshot didn’t surprise me. It was one of those moments where you see shit going wrong, but you realize it an instant too late to actually change directions or slam on the brakes or, well, stop fumbling at the damn gun before you accidentally pull the damn trigger.
The sound might not have surprised me, but the line of fiery pain that streaked across my left ass cheek sure as shit did. The stupid gun came free of the holster, but by then my mind had leaped to “I shot myself in the ass!” instead of sticking with “Hold the weapon in a safe manner!” and the gun went sailing under the conference table. Pain instead of pain told me the bullet had only grazed me, and already I felt the numbing tingle of my parasite doing damage control. Good thing, since I had only fractions of a second to come up with a gunless Plan B.
The humans in the room were startled by the gunshot but had yet to fully react. Nicole was several steps away by this point, therefore I went with the option right in front of me. With a snarl, I lunged at Andrew, gripped his wrist and dragged him toward me. If I couldn’t have mama, I’d settle for mama’s boy.
Zombie jiu jitsu powers, activate!
