Since it was a neighborhood filled with heritage homes and tree-lined streets that echoed with the grandeur of generations past, there could be no explanation for the drive-by shooting that ensued.
One moment, Nik was sauntering along, trying to ignore his pesky shadow, and the next a black SUV passed with the windows rolled down, a rifle barrel extended and bullets flying.
He heard a female-like, high-pitched scream from behind, which prompted him to pivot and pull down the screecher whose hands were flapping in time to the stupid dance he performed. At least the dummy had enough sense to hit the ground with him.
Nik tried to push off the frenzied idiot so he could get the license plate, but the bullets whizzing too close convinced him to stay down. Besides, the strangling arms securing him weren’t letting go anytime soon. Clamping his hand over the squawking idiot’s mouth helped stop the confusion somewhat, but he wished he could have done more. Yet, punching the guy out seemed like overkill.
Screeching tires signalled the end of the attack, but not before Nik noticed a red-headed woman flying out from his mother’s yard.
Maya!
She had her gun cocked and sent a few bullets after the fleeing vehicle—all to no avail. It had made its escape.
In seconds, quiet had returned to the street. Pushing away his clinging burden, Nik rushed to where Maya was returning her gun to her holster. “Did you get the license number?” He hoped she had, but knew by her disgusted expression that she hadn’t had any success either.
“No. I couldn’t see it clearly, too many trees. Did you?”
“Nope. Too unexpected. Why the hell would someone shoot at me?”
“Maybe they took you for Max?”
“Yeah, I thought of that too.”
“Has he contacted you?”
“Who?” Nik stalled.
“Who else? Max, of course.”
“No, not lately. How did you find out about us being brothers?”
“You’re kidding, right? First of all, you’re identical. And in case you didn’t know, I’m FBI and I have a few resources at my disposal. Other than Max’s name change, it really didn’t take too long to find out that he had a twin.”
Before Nik could answer, more screams erupted from Nellie’s veranda. Dropping his head in disgust, Nik swore and then strolled swiftly to the stairs. There he found his new pain-in-the-ass pal holding Nellie in his arms while waving a fan in front of his
own
face and screeching like a banshee. “I think she’s dead!”
“Oh, for chrissakes! Give her to me and fetch a glass of water.” Nik gently lifted the small-boned woman in his arms and sat with her in the swing. Then he wrenched the fan from the departing idiot and used it to help her return to consciousness. All the while he talked softly, in a soothing voice. “Come on, Mom. Everything is fine. We’re all okay. You can come back now.”
Maya helped by undoing Nellie’s top buttons and loosening her clothing. Soon the color slowly seeped back to the older woman’s face.
Maya turned to see the over-emotional dude put a glass of water close to Nik. Hovering, wringing his hands, he waited. “It’s all my fault. Those maniacs were after me. Is she dead?”
“Of course she’s not dead. She just fainted.” Nik’s disgust sounded in his voice.
Switching from fear to worry, the skittish guy’s expression changed instantly. “Poor sweetie. She’s probably terrified. I know I was. If it hadn’t been for Rambo saving my ass once again, I just
know
I would have been lying in a pool of my own blood and guts.”
Nik glared his warning and the stranger covered his mouth like a child would, using both hands.
When no one bothered to introduce her, she couldn’t help but ask questions. “Who are you? A friend of Nik’s?”
“Nik? So that’s his name. Even though he let me spend the night with him, he refused to tell me.”
Nik interrupted sourly. “You didn’t spend the night
with me
, you slept on the couch in my hotel room. And…I didn’t
let
you.” His irritation was evident. “You picked the lock while I was having a shower and hid under the blanket. Hell, I didn’t even know you were there until this morning.” The disgust on his face was comical.
“And when you did find out, you didn’t beat me up or throw me out. You let me share breakfast.” Switching his gaze to Maya, the toadying adorer added, “I admit the poor dear wasn’t very happy to see me. I thought for a minute he’d have a cardiac arrest. But he didn’t get mean and he did let me eat.”
Realizing her question had been sneakily ignored, she asked again. “So, who are you?” Maya tried to hide her grin from Nik, the glowering giant whose gentle maneuvers with his mother were paying off. Nellie was starting to recover.
Speaking overly loudly, he answered. “I’m Julian Freed. My friends call me Juli. And you?”
“I’m Special Agent Maya Barnes, and my friends call me Maya.”
“And
I’m
pissed… that you two are having a love-fest when my mother is out cold.”
“Oh, Nik, I’m not. Just resting my eyes and enjoying being held by my long-lost son.” Nellie opened her blue wonders and flashed a smile to all three caregivers. Her gaze stopped at Juli. “I’m pleased to meet you, young man.
I’m
Nellie Foster, Nik’s mother.”
Wanting to get a squad car to the address as soon as possible so they could do a sweep of the street, Maya called in the incident. If by any chance someone saw something that could be useful, the uniforms would do a door to door canvas, interviewing the residents and hopefully getting new details.
While she waited for the phone to be answered, she studied Nik. The handsome bastard looked so much like Max. They were identical when it came to their features and hair coloring and those mind-blowing eyes were bad enough to deal with in one man’s face but in two? He’d cradled his mom until suddenly, his face paled and his hands begin to tremble.
Hmm… Strange!
Gently, he lifted her to a chair of her own and then bolted into the house. Ending her call, Maya approached the other two.
“Julian—”
“Make it Juli.”
“Right, Juli. What makes you think the drive-by was because of you?” Nellie seemed taken by the younger man and had allowed him to fetch her footstool and a pillow to relieve her back.
“There’re some bad guys after me. And the cops are looking for me too. I can’t win.” Juli hung his head, and his affected sorrow made both Maya and Nellie smile.
Cutting into the conversation, Maya asked. “First, why are the cops after you?”
“Like I told Nik… By the way, he suits that name—”
“Stick to the subject. Cops! Why?”
“Right. So anyway, they want me to tell them what I saw at the nightclub where I used to dance.”
“What did you see?”
“Well, that’s just it. I didn’t see anything, except for a bunch of guys forcing a truckload of young immigrant girls, who looked quite poorly by the way; some had bruises and they were crying—”
“Ju-li!”
“…into the basement of the building.” Juli held his hands out in front of him as if to ward off her frustration. “That’s it. Next thing I knew, one of the big bruisers caught me peeking and came after me. I never ran so fast in my life. That crazy-assed Neanderthal scared the crap… excuse me, Nellie… the poop right outta me.”
Nellie nodded graciously. “Crap works for me, it’s a good descriptive word and less graphic than shit.”
“That’s what I thought myself.” Juli shared a grin with her. He winked and nodded toward Maya, who really didn’t appreciate their childish humor.
“This isn’t funny, you two. It’s a serious business. What would you say if I told you that those girls had been kidnapped, are all underage, and being forced into prostitution?”
“I’d tell you not to worry about those particular young ladies. They’re free. I let them go. Don’t know where they are now, but at least those animals don’t have them anymore.”
“Free? How the hell did you do that?” Shocked, Maya leaned forward to listen.
Fanning himself with one of the fans, Juli’s self-satisfied grin appeared before he got serious. “I have a handy Taser I’ve been forced to use on occasions when fellows get the wrong impression. I snuck back to my room and collected it. Later, when I returned to the building, I just waited until the big truck took off with most of the men. The two bruisers they’d left to guard the girls were pretty dozy from the spiked beer I’d paid big bucks to a waiter pal from upstairs to deliver. I gave it twenty minutes, then I picked the lock, Tased one frisky fool who wanted to stop me, and released the girls. I sent them to a safe house downtown. Not sure if they followed my directions, but they did vamoose. The problem is, one of the guys came to long enough to make me before I tased him again. Now, I suppose, they want payback.”
“What’s the address to this safe house? I’ll check and see if any arrived there?”
Juli pulled his wallet from his pocket and started searching through scads of papers.
Not wanting to waste a minute, Maya went to the entrance of the house and called, “Nik?” Stepping into the hallway, she called again. “
Nik
?” In the distance she heard a door close and never did get an answer to her demand.
Blasted man!
Maya couldn’t believe that the annoying jerk had pulled the disappearing act again. One minute he was sitting with them on the veranda, the next he’d split.
Shaking her head, she lifted the mass of red hair off her neck and twisted it quickly on top, anchoring it with a clip. Then she grabbed the fan away from Juli and, pulling her white, prettily embroidered cotton blouse away from where it stuck glued to her chest, she viciously fanned herself while digesting what she’d been told.
Having no doubt that Nik had overheard Juli’s story, she couldn’t believe the prick would pull the MIA card again. Torn between wanting to spend her time trying to find her partner, Max, and knowing she had to follow up on this new lead in the Trafficking Case, she chewed on her lip, trying to make up her mind.
“Where’s the address?”
Juli had stopped his search.
“Don’t have it on me. Must be in my other pants.”
Nellie broke into their conversation and aimed her remark to Juli. “Doesn’t that just drive you batty? Happens to me all the time. I’m positive I have something and, sure enough, when I go to look for it, it just isn’t there.”
Juli nodded effusively at the older woman. “I know! It’s
so
annoying… ”
“Juli! Pay attention.” Maya’s eyes drilled him, only to get the feeling he was playing her. Glaring, serious in her intent to get to the bottom of the sticky situation, she gritted her teeth and spoke harshly. “You said you stayed the night with Nik?”
“Yes. Had to tidy up the mess he’d left before I could actually sleep. The man’s a slob. You’d think the Navy would have taught him better.”
“Navy?” Both women uttered the word at the same time. Maya voice ringing with shock and Nellie’s filled with pride.
“Yeah! He’s a Lieutenant Commander. With the Seals. Served in Iraq. The man’s a hero. Got the Silver Star…What?”
“How the hell do you know all this?” Maya looked over at Nellie, who shrugged.
“Well, it’s not like he told me. But I’m pretty handy with a computer and his was sitting open…. Look, I kinda wanted to see if there were any news stories about the girls. But then I got curious. So…shoot me!”
“Hell, not me,” Maya said with a grin, ridiculously happy to hear that Nik, the man she’d felt an instant attraction to, was someone she could be proud of. “I’ll leave that chore to your friends—the Neanderthals.”
Juli’s exaggerated screech made her feel slightly better.
Nik had taken off, knowing that Maya would be pissed. At first that wasn’t his intention. All he’d wanted to do was hide his reaction to the adrenaline rush he’d experienced. When the shakes had hit, followed by sickness roiling inside his tight gut, he’d had no choice. Stumbling to the washroom, he’d stuck his head under the tap, relishing the coldness of the water.
As soon as he stood upright, pain slammed into his head and panic clawed at his nerves. Christ, he had to get away. He couldn’t let anyone see him trembling like a little girl who’d seen a fat, hairy spider.
Even though he closed the screen door carefully, it still snapped shut with too much noise. He halted and let his head hang to clear his vision. That damned disorder had waned over the last few days and now, at the worst possible time, it had returned with a vengeance; proof he was by no means cured.
Stalking through a backyard and onto an adjacent street, Nik tried to breathe deeply and release the tension. Prescribed sleeping pills had forced his body into numbing oblivion most nights, but he hadn’t felt rested, not really.
Good food and exercise had helped, but this latest incident proved he was far from ready to return to active duty. After all, his men depended on him to be in top condition, not screwed up every time he had to deal with a shock or a surprise situation.
Checking his watch, he hailed a cab and decided to take a pill from the unopened bottle the doctor had prescribed for just such an incident. Then, he’d update his brother and see what the hell Max wanted him to do about this new twist.
Sitting in the cab’s back seat, Nik went over in his mind what he’d just heard. Go figure that the little twerp who’d been playing stalker could be so useful, and brave. Nik shook his head.
While based in a war zone, he’d seen it time and again. The mouthy soldiers you’d expect to have balls of steel could become the biggest losers, while the ones you thought wouldn’t make it two months before having a nervous breakdown, shocked the shit out of you with their courage and determination.
In Julian’s case, when faced with flying bullets the guy had lost it. But, in the dark, sneaking his way into danger was another story. Nik wished he could have stuck around to ask the little guy some questions, but he knew he’d have had to get in line behind Maya. Which was the way it should be. After all, she had the badge.
Paying off the driver, Nik headed behind a popular restaurant and up a rickety, wooden staircase to the living quarters above. Before opening the door, he knocked once and then gave another quick one, only to be stopped dead on the threshold by a furious female.
Grabbing the door from his hand, she hissed, “Stop that banging. Max has finally dropped off. He’s been awake all night, fretting.”
“I’m not sleeping.” A sarcastic voice sounded from the far side of the room. “I was pretending—to shut you up. Let him in.”
Nik stepped past the petite blonde whose chip on her shoulder was as noticeable as her striking gray eyes and her natural curls. Charging to the invalid sprawled on clean white sheets and covered in bandages, she railed in fury, “If you did as you were told, I wouldn’t have to
babble
, right?”
Max laughed and then coughed. “Aw, darlin’, did I say you were babbling? I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m a grouch.”
Sniffing with indignation, Linda crossed her arms and tapped her right toe. “Don’t you think sweet-talking will get you out of trouble. It’s taken me weeks to get your sorry ass healed, and I’m not going to put up with any of your nonsense.” She turned to Nik who lounged against the doorway grinning. “And you—wipe that smirk off your face. You saw him before. Broken ribs, bruised like a heavyweight has-been after twenty rounds. He needs at least another few weeks in bed to let his broken leg heal. So don’t encourage the idiot.”
Hands up, warding off her ire, Nik nodded quickly. “You got it… darlin’.”
“Oh, you two! I’m fed up with the both of you.” The slamming door gave proof of her mood and her exit.
“She gets a mite vexed sometimes. Guess I deserve it. Don’t know what I’d have done if she hadn’t of taken me in and nursed me, hiding me from the Mosleys.”
“Actually, I don’t think she was too mad. At least her wink before she slammed the door made me figure otherwise.” Nik watched his brother struggling to sit upright and he rushed over to offer a hand. “Let me help you.”
“Bugger off. I can do it myself.”
“Christ! Now I know why she’d need to get out for a while. You are an asshole, aren’t you?”
“Hell, you don’t know what it’s been like, lying here in hiding, knowing that if they come for me, I’m a dead man. Putting Linda in jeopardy. If it hadn’t been for you, fetching me that night and bringing me here, I’d have died for sure.”
“Just be glad they didn’t crush your cell phone and that you had me on speed dial. By the time I got to you, you were out cold. Who knows how long you’d have lasted, bleeding the way you were. Good thing you recovered consciousness long enough to tell me where to take you.”
“Linda and I had something going for a while, couldn’t seem to shake her loose. So I banked on her feelings and hoped she’d look after me. The woman owns the restaurant below and can pretty well work the hours she wants to. Seriously, she’s been an angel.”
“Hell, she’d need to be.” Nik went to the fridge and snagged a bottle of water. “Can I get you anything?”
“Did you bring my cigarettes? Is there any beer? I’d give my left nut for a cold one.”
“Jesus, bro, you’re on all kinds of painkillers and you want to add alcohol to the mix? I don’t think so.”
“Whoever told you beer is alcohol?”
“Same person who told me you quit smoking.”
“Blasted Maya. She’s always trying to get me to quit. Refuses to let me light up in the car—”
“And so she should. Why the hell should she breathe in your smoke? And it wasn’t Maya, it was Linda. Besides, if I take over your role, there ain’t no way in hell that I’ll be putting one of those killer sticks in my mouth and sucking in that poison. If you’re serious about me taking on your identity, it’s gotta be under my rules.”
“Actually, Nik, I’ve changed my mind. Forget I mentioned it. Don’t know what I was thinking, asking you to do something so dangerous. Guess I got caught up in the case.”
“It’s justifiable, bro. I—”
“No! It isn’t. They meant to kill me. If I resurface, they’ll do a better job next time—on you.”
“Hey, I’ve been taking care of Nik Baudin for a long time and through multiple war zones. Besides, you said yourself, the only way to get this gang is to dig them out of hiding by having them come to finish the job.”
“Sure, but next time, they won’t do it themselves. They’ll hire a hit man.”
“What about the incriminating proof you gathered on their business activities? They took it off you that night. I need to get it back. I won’t be able to that without resources and backup. As a citizen, I have none of those, but as Special Agent Maximilian, I’ll be far more covered and protected.”
“So you’re seriously going in as me?”
“You don’t think I can carry it off?”
“Not looking like that, you won’t. I wouldn’t be caught dead in camouflage pants and a black T-shirt. And lose the hair. Good thing we’re the same size. Look, all my addresses are in the black book in the drawer of the hall table at my place. The hairdresser I use—”
Interrupting with a snort, Nik looked how he felt—pissed off. “You want me to go to a friggin hairdresser? Aw, fuckie, come on.”
“Sherry’s really nice, has big tits and loves to laugh. You’ll like her. Besides, she’ll make you look just like me. And, she’ll do your nails too.”
“What? Next thing I know you’ll want me to visit a spa and wear men’s perfume.”
“Spa’s address is in the book, and my cologne is in my top drawer, left-hand side, in the bathroom.”
“Shit!”
Laughing, Max added. “Now tell me why you’re here. Something went down and I need to know what happened.”