“Because his real name is Tardova Marcagonoff and his parents were ex-KGB.” Schmidt tried to inch away from M’s blade, but Loki held him firmly in place. “When they cut a deal with the US government to turn over evidence of Russian spying in exchange for asylum in this country, the burying of theirs and their son’s pasts was part of the bargain.”
“Shit.” Loki shook his head. “So some twenty-something kid is responsible for all this mess? Where does that leave us? Our missions?”
“Well, I figure you’re in the same spot you were before. You want to save your company and she wants to get ahead in her career. The challenge is how to decide which of you will get what you want.” Schmidt eyed M’s blade warily. “Now let me go. I told you what you wanted.”
“How do we find this Martin kid?” M asked.
“He’ll be in town tomorrow night for the charity ball at the convention center.” Schmidt swallowed hard, then flinched as M pressed the tip of the knife into his jaw. A dot of crimson swelled in its wake. “I swear. My plan was to get in there myself if tonight didn’t pan out. Loki should have no problem, since his company’s backer is also funding the ball.”
“Truth?” M glanced at Loki, who was still glowering at the little man in his grasp. “You can get us into this charity thing?”
“Yes.” He eased up on his grip on Schmidt slightly. “I’ll call my backer as soon as we get out of here.”
“Speaking of getting out of here,” Schmidt said. “I need to go. I don’t like being out in the open too long. Easy target.”
M was about to ask if the guy had been careful about being followed when the answer struck like a bullet. Literally. Brick dust from the artillery strike rained down around them and the high-pitched whine of ammo whizzing past her ear had M ducking for cover even as she shouted out a warning. “Get down!”
Loki was already on it, hitting the pavement while still keeping ahold of Schmidt at the same time. Unfortunately, the move was clunky and Schmidt’s head hit the wall on the way down, hard. He crumpled to the sidewalk in an unconscious heap.
M leaned in, cursing, and checked his pulse. “He’s still alive. Not hit, but out cold.”
“Dammit!” Loki ducked again as their invisible sniper rained down bullets like water. “We need to get out of here and find decent cover.”
The headlight of a nearby parked vehicle shattered, sending a spray of glass everywhere. Other patrons at the shopping center were running around in pandemonium. M patted down Schmidt, looking for any additional information that he might have failed to disclose, but found none. Head covered with one hand, she used the other to point to a large dumpster at the end of the building. “Think that’ll work?”
“Gonna have to,” Loki said. On his signal, they both sprinted like hell toward the dumpster then dove behind it at the last second, more ammo pinging off the metal Dumpster and surrounding pavement.
“That was close,” M said, breathing deep to calm her racing heart. She loved a good fight as much as the next gal, but only if it was fair. This battle was not only unfair, they didn’t even know who was shooting at them. “What about Schmidt?”
“He’ll be fine.” Loki cursed then winced. “It’s us they want, not him. The bullets go where we go.”
A street light flickered on overhead and M got her first good look at Loki. She froze. “You’re hit.
”
Crimson blossomed from the right shoulder area of his T-shirt, wet and sticky in the orange glow of the streetlight. Loki squinted back at the wound then hissed through his teeth as he gave his shoulder a tentative roll. “It’s nothing. Flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”
The stain grew bigger as she watched and her doubts increased. “I think we should get you to a hospital to be on the safe side.”
“No, really.” Loki said, cringing. “Seriously. I don’t want to waste any more time. If what Schmidt said is true, then millions of lives could be in danger. I swore an oath to protect my country and my fellow servicemen and women when I became a SEAL. I’m not about to fail on that promise now.”
He reached down and ripped a strip off the bottom of his T-shirt then handed it to M. “Can you help me wrap it up?”
She found him brave and stubborn, both of which could get them killed if not tempered with common sense. Her anger rose along with her admiration for him. He was a good operative, she’d give Loki that. Damned personable too. Hell, even her brother liked him and he usually hated everyone she’d brought home from work. But Loki was also exasperating in the extreme, couldn’t take a back seat on cases to save his life, and seemed incapable of shutting up for two consecutive seconds without running his mouth about something. And then there were all his pretty words. Too pretty, if you asked M. Nobody was that slick without a whole lot of shit to hide. And yeah, he was good looking. Probably more handsome than any man she’d ever seen—all cut lines and chiseled perfection. But beauty sometimes hid the worst beasts. Unfortunately, she’d learned that lesson the hard way.
She finished tying off the strip of fabric around his injured shoulder then sat back, glad to find the keys to her car still in her jacket pocket. “We can run around the back of the building then wait until the coast is clear to head to the vehicle.”
“Awesome.” Loki’s normally deep voice sounded unusually high-pitched. “You might want to tie this thing a bit tighter. I still think I’ve got a bit of circulation to that side of my brain.”
M responded with a nice middle finger then took off around the back of the building, not waiting to see if Loki followed. He did, the sound of his footsteps pounding the asphalt behind her as they slipped through the shadows, spurning her forward. He caught up easily, his long legs eating up the distance between them in only a few paces.
“You need me, you know,” Loki said. “Whether you’ll admit it or not.”
Scoffing, she darted around a pile of boxes stacked at the rear door of one of the shops, keeping an eye out for any sign of their sniper, though chances were good they were long gone by now. No shots had been fired since they’d ducked behind the Dumpster and even now, the sound of sirens wailing in the distance grew closer.
“You’re wrong. I don’t need you,” M said, grumbling. “I don’t need anybody.”
“Wrong again.” Loki smiled, affable as ever, damn him. Did nothing upset the guy? They’d just been shot at, nearly killed. He’d been shot, for fuck’s sake, and here he was, happy as a fricking clam. “I’ve got the government connections, and the military. You’ve got the funds. Together we can catch this bastard before he does even more damage. If I lose this promotion I’ve got nothing. You’ve got your friends to fall back on. All I’ve got is me and my brother. My job is everything to me. If I lose it, I don’t have anything else. The people I work for have already told me that unless I can advance in the company and show them I’ve got the skills to succeed, they’ll cut me loose. I either bring this guy in or die trying.”