“Fuck no. If we’re going to Split, my life is golden.”
“Do you mind sticking around? I’ll need a ride in a few hours. Take a nap, I’ll wake you.”
“Will do.” Simon kicked off his shoes, set his drink aside, shut his eyes, and was sleeping two seconds later. Fighting in the hellholes of the world, he’d learned to ignore artillery that wasn’t close, find some out-of-the-way burrow, and sleep when he could.
Familiar with Simon’s second sense about danger, knowing he was dead-to-the-world on his sofa, Rafe made his next call unconcerned he’d wake Simon.
“First, it’s not an emergency, Gina,” Rafe said quickly in French. “Relax.”
“Then why the fuck are you calling me at four in the morning?” She slid her handgun back under her pillow; an automatic reaction when she was startled. She took a breath.
“I need your help.”
“And I’m going to help you because?”
“Don’t be a bitch. This is important. Don’t forget, I’m nice to you when you want me to be.” He could hear her breathing, trying to decide whether she wanted to be nice back, whether he’d still answer her booty call if she said no.
She sighed, sat up in bed, and ran her fingers over her face. “All right. What do you want?”
“Can you get me up to Dominic Knight’s apartment? My girlfriend, his niece, is there under duress.”
“He has a private elevator, keeps to himself, real family man, never travels without his wife and children.”
“I’ve heard. You wouldn’t happen to know his elevator code.”
“I might. But I’m living in this building for a reason and I don’t want to piss him off.”
“Got it,” Rafe said. “I understand he has good security?”
“The best. No offense.”
“None taken. He probably has more enemies.”
“Not anymore,” she drawled.
Rafe exhaled. “Christ, is it on the fucking world news?”
“Only in a very specific circle. Why the hell did you poke that beast?”
“They started it. They’ve been trying to steal my R and D for years. I’m just defending myself. Or rather Ganz is. They recently killed his father. I’m sure you heard that too.”
“An attaché at the Mongolian embassy in Paris. In broad daylight. That’s sending a message.”
“The guy in charge was too pissed at Ganz for finesse.”
“I heard Carlos’s in town. That should help. Rumor has it he finished up the last of Ganz’s trouble in Monte Carlo and the fish are eating well.”
“You hear a whole fucking lot.” A slice of a laugh. “Care to tell me how many more are on their way?”
“A wave of locusts, mon cher,” she said softly. “But you already know that.”
“Yeah. We’re working on the incoming.”
“Good idea. So when do you need the code?”
“Ten this morning.”
“Okay. So you’re going up to kiss his ring.”
“I’m hoping to avoid that. I just want to apologize.”
She laughed. “Good luck. He’s not the forgiving type. He hasn’t talked to his parents in years, although maybe I’m telling the wrong person that.”
Rafe laughed. “Christ, maybe we have something in common after all.”
“You’re both badasses, I’ll give you that. Ring me when you get here. I’ll come down and see if I can help you get your girlfriend back.”
“Thanks.” He was halfway to his goal. “You’re a sweetheart.”
“Fucking A—hearts and flowers all the way.”
She actually was a sweetheart at times, Rafe reflected, hanging up. Sexy sweet. At other times—ex-Mossad—she was a freelance lethal threat.
Rafe glanced at the time. It probably wouldn’t hurt to sleep for a couple hours. He had to be alert if he wanted to convince Knight to let him leave with Nicole.
Dominic had been on the phone with his ADC, Max, off and on for hours, gathering the information he needed—none of it encouraging. The news from Macao was fucking catastrophic.
“If Contini’s mixed up in that defection,” Max said, “he’s got a world of trouble on his hands. A friend of mine who runs security for a Singapore financier happened to be in Macao when the shit hit the fan. Rumor has it the plane was Contini’s, the team that walked the defectors to the plane was Contini’s, and the Shanghai gang is frothing at the mouth. Their entire cybernetwork was bombed to dust.”
“Jesus, Nicole sure knows how to pick ’em.”
“And Gora married Contini’s mother a couple years ago. Right after Maso died, right after Gora’s wife was found dead of an overdose in Istanbul.”