Cygny's Six

Helstrom took a startling step forward and froze as if he had finally decided to do the smart thing and shut the hell up.

Nicolas stepped back and gestured at the painting behind him. “This one?”

A heartbreaking moment later, Helstrom dropped his chin in a nod, his eyes filled with hope and need.

He wanted the painting. Even with the tension in the room and the cold look in Nicholas’ eyes, Helstrom moved forward, his attention directed at the hanging artwork.

Nicolas stepped away from the artwork and while Cygny knew she should keep her attention strictly on Nicolas, she turned to look at the other man when he drew in a shuddering breath.

“I’ve always wanted a piece like this. Dark… Impending doom…”

“So that’s your reason for wanting the painting?”

“Nicolas, please-”

Cygny didn’t know what she could do to stop whatever was about to happen.

She had no weapon of any use from the distance between herself and Nicolas, but she felt she had to try.

His only indication that she’d been heard was a slight pinch in the expression on his face and Helena’s manic smile.

“This isn’t a game.”

Nicolas’ head swiveled on his neck, his cold fury directed at her.

It was a sight directly from her nightmares.

“You think I’m playing some kind of game?”

Beside her, Mister Samuels stepped back and murmured under his breath. “Don’t draw attention to yourself.”

It was a sweet gesture, trying to save her.

Get her to save herself.

But Mister Samuels didn’t quite grasp the fact that there was no stopping at this point. Whatever was about to happen had taken on the gravity of a big rig truck sliding toward a pileup on an icy highway. When it came to rest, there was bound to be carnage.

“I thought this was about me? Leave him out of this.”

Nicolas drew back an inch, his gaze fixed on her. “That’s where you and I differ, Cygny.” He reached into his coat and Cygny started moving before she made the conscious decision to do so. “You second guess what you’re going to do, but me?”

She managed to grab his arm and wrist when he pulled out the pistol he’d been hiding behind his impeccable suit, but he barely reacted to her touch. She stumbled into him as he turned, bringing the front tip of the weapon higher than it had been.

When the gun report echoed in her head she swore that time around them slowed down.

That made the path of the bullet visible to her.

The bullet tore through the back of Mister Helstrom and buried itself into the painting. The blood ripped from the other man’s body splashed against the canvas like a horror movie prop.

Behind them, Mister Samuels swore under his breath. “What the fuck is this?”

Nicolas whirled them both around, his arm locking her at his side. “This, my good man, is hell.”

* * *

From their placebehind the blind they’d set up on the next ridge, Beck felt something touch the back of her neck and it sent shivers down her spine.

Sitting beside her, Roman turned with a look of concern. “You see something?”

Lowering her scope down, Beck shook her head. “Just a weird feeling.” Reaching out for the door handle, she opened it up and got out of the vehicle.

She could hear Roman getting out as well, but her attention was fixed forward at the beautiful mountains and wilderness before them. “I feel like we’re missing something.”

“We expected this to take a few days. And knew we weren’t going to be able to see anything inside.” Roman put his arm around her and she leaned into his warmth.

She sighed. “That window covering is driving me nuts. When this is over I need to see what it looks like from the inside.”

He kissed her cheek.. “You thinking of getting some for our place?”

“Maybe,” she confessed, “or planning on burning down the company that made it. I don’t like not having eyes on Cygny.”

“They’ll do what they can to help each other, just like we would. Once we get a signal to go in, you know we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

Beck turned into him and wrapped her arms around Roman. “I just don’t like not knowing that they are okay.”

Roman let out a sigh and she felt his chest rise and fall against her cheek. “We’ll keep our eyes open and it’ll be okay.”

As they turned and headed back toward the SUV, Roman’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked at the screen before accepting the call. “Hank?”

Beck pulled back and looked up into his face, her eyes wide and worried.

Roman listened as Hank quickly spelled out the problem.

“They found Agent Marks in his hotel room in Colorado Springs.”

“Found?” Beck’s question was silent, but Hank answered it just the same.

“His director called me just a few minutes ago. Local police in Colorado Springs found his body in his hotel room. By the looks of it,” Hank paused and hissed out a breath, “he’s been dead after he returned from Fool’s Gold.”

“There’s two ways to look at this.” Roman’s voice had deepened with worry. “Either he’s a part of this,-”

Beck continued on. “Or he served his purpose. He got Cygny and Leo up on the mountain at this event. Who would have this kind of vendetta against them?”

The silence that fell was heavy and oppressive.

They all knew about Cygny and Leo’s background now. They knew what had driven the two apart. And if they were now in a trap set for one or both of them, there really was only one possible source.

Hank swore under his breath. “Go. Go. Go.”

* * *