Enforcer Ensnared (22 page)

“Think he’ll show?” she
whispered. Blade nodded his head, the fact that she likely couldn’t see the
movement forgotten.

“He’ll show, he sounded
too determined on the phone. The essence he’s collected won’t last forever, so
he’s losing potential drugs and money every day he waits. He’ll be here,” Blade
returned, certain.

The urge to continually
look at his watch, much like Malone did, snaked through Blade, squashed by a
careful and sure certainty that he would simply need to be patient. Every few
minutes soft messages came over their
comms
. An “all
quiet here” or a “bastard’s taking his time” there only served to ratchet up
the tension as the minutes dragged by interminably.

“Incoming.” Matthias’
single, softly spoken word almost caressed Blade’s ear. Instantly both he and
Flame tensed and looked up and down their street. Adrenaline surged through his
body, keeping him edgy and ready for whatever might occur.

It took Blade almost a
minute to finally spot the tall, slim man who walked down the street. He stuck
to the shadows where possible but without drawing more attention to himself. In
the muted light his blond hair glinted dimly, his face pale above the
unrelieved black of his sweater, pants and shoes.

Blade watched
Sarke
. His gaze lingered so he could memorize his features,
his walk, everything about him so he could recognize him again anywhere were it
to become necessary. Without such close scrutiny, Blade never would have
realized just how paranoid
Sarke
had become. More
than a few times his head turned seemingly casually to take in the totality of
his surroundings, and even though his step did not falter Blade had no doubt
from the sound of his footsteps on the concrete that he was poised for flight
at the smallest hint of danger.

If nothing else convinced
him this slim, black-clad man was
Sarke
, Malone’s
reaction clinched the matter. The large man froze, his mouth opened as if he
were about to call out to
Sarke
, but then he closed
it and thought better of it. Blade noticed that the closer
Sarke
walked to Malone the more paranoid he became.

Clever man,
Blade thought wryly.
No wonder
he’s as slippery as an eel. His sense of self-preservation is astonishing.

“Malone,”
Sarke
greeted casually when only a few dozen feet remained
between him and the larger, heavyset man. Blade noticed that even though he
remained on the sidewalk he had chosen a spot precisely set out of the
lampposts’ lights and largely covered by neighboring cars.

In that moment Blade knew
for a fact that
Sarke
had thoroughly checked over the
area earlier in the day. He could not possibly have just happened to choose
that particular spot to stop and talk in.
Sarke
simply had to have reconnoitered the area previously.

“He’s done his homework,”
Blade murmured into his
comm
unit to fill in the rest
of the team. “
Sarke
stopped in exactly the best
protected section on the pavement. Even if I wanted to shoot him here and now,
I’d not have a direct, clean shot.”

“We don’t have a clear
line of sight either,” Matthias confirmed. “The light is poor and he blends in
with the shadows too much for a good shot. No way will our assassin friend take
him here and now. He’ll wait patiently for
Sarke
to
take two or three more steps.”

“Keep your cool, people,”
Will insisted, his voice gravelly and rough, muffled through the
comm
as if there were an impediment blocking the Captain’s
words. Blade would bet a month’s worth of paychecks the cigar now sat in the corner
of his mouth being vigorously chewed as the real entertainment began. “Julian,
any hints on where the assassin will strike?”

“My bet is for a sniper,”
he commented. “Up close and personal is too messy in this situation.”

“The
roof?”
Matthias
questioned.

“Possibly,” Julian agreed
hesitantly, “but not yet. The gamble isn’t worth us leaving our posts to
check.”

“Keep on it, you two,”
Will ordered. “Use your discretion but keep us in the loop.”

“
Sarke
,
you’re late,” Malone said with a slight waver in his voice. Blade couldn’t
believe the wizard had undergone a sudden fit of conscience or changed his mind
about having
Sarke
assassinated, yet he sounded
unusually high-strung. Men like Malone rarely sounded out of control or as if
they had a care in the world.

Perhaps
, Blade thought sardonically,
Malone
has simply never experienced the curious sensation of getting his hands messy
in his own affairs.

“I know,”
Sarke
replied. Unlike Malone the blond sounded mostly calm,
far more in control than the powerful wizard. “I’ve had the most unusual
sensation all day. Did you know that, Malone?”

Sarke
remained exactly where he had
paused. Malone’s fist clenched and Blade could almost see his urge to reach
forward and drag
Sarke
out into better light. Waiting
patiently did not suit Malone. Blade could almost scent his sweat and fear in
the air around them. Idly Blade wondered if his hand were clenched so it would
not shake.

“
Sarke
,
I don’t care about your idiocies, we need to—”

“The sensation of being
watched,”
Sarke
continued calmly, as if Malone had
not uttered a single word. “It’s a very particular feeling, you know, Malone.
Rarely can it be mistaken for anything else. It’s this itchy, creepy feeling at
the back of your head. Generally it sets your hairs on end and feels almost
like spiders or bugs are crawling over your skin.
Very
unique.”

Malone merely opened and
closed his mouth soundlessly. Blade caught Flame shaking her head. He winked at
her in the dark—he’d been about to do the same thing. Malone clearly had little
to no wet work experience. Standing on a footpath gaping like a fish did not
inspire anyone with confidence that a backhanded turn had not been set in the
works. Any fool could smell the setup from a mile away.

Blade spoke softly over
the comm. “I think it might be getting close to
showtime
.
Sarke
is twitchy and smells the stench of
backstabbing in the air. We don’t want him to escape.”

“Jarred and I are moving
into secondary position and will close in on you all.”
Will
spoke quickly, his voice still low.
“Sage, Chase—both of you
keep
your eyes open and hold the back for us. Julian,
Matthias—split up and
search
out that third party. We
don’t need to strike and get shot for our efforts.”

“Come on,
Sarke
,” Malone
wheedled,
his
confidence returning as
Sarke
merely eyed him with
obvious distrust but didn’t express any further concern. “You wanted a lab and
more money. We’re here in front of your new lab and I assume you’ve received
the money I transferred into your account?”

Sarke
nodded, tension and reluctance
etched into his stance.

“Exactly.”
Malone visibly relaxed and held an
arm out, indicating
Sarke
should go ahead of him.
“You have your money so come on over here and look at your new premises. We’re
going to gather attention if we just stand out here in the dark talking to each
other like fools.”

“Julian,” Matthias hissed
over the comm. “Up here on the roof, quadrant three.
Now.
I have the assassin in line of sight. He has a sniper rifle and is lying flat
on the roof, black balaclava on. He’s magical but has a blocking talisman on so
I can’t trace him.”

Blade now understood why
Matthias had called for Julian to back him up. If Matthias could get in close
enough contact with the sniper, regardless of whether he wore a talisman to
block his signature Matt could sense the man’s essence and track him later. He
couldn’t do it alone, however—he needed his backup.

“Hold, people,” Will
cautioned. “We don’t want to act and spook the assassin. We wait for a moment.
Julian, Matthias—you boys have the floor. Do your stuff and keep us updated.”

“Thirty seconds,” Julian
panted. Blade could very faintly hear the slightest whisper of movement that
indicated Julian was likely now sprinting out onto the roof to where Matthias
had indicated.

Blade mentally crossed
his fingers, his body still taut with the knowledge that he would only have a
few short seconds to move and subdue Malone and
Sarke
.
He needed to keep on edge, not only because when he needed his burst of magic
and physical energy it would have to be overpowering, but also because he quite
likely would be running right into the focus of a sniper rifle.

He returned his attention
to
Sarke
and Malone.

“I am never foolish,”
Sarke
finally answered. “I always have a backup plan. But
you’re right, Malone, we should move inside and out of the range of anyone
nearby.”

Blade mentally counted
down from the thirty seconds Julian had indicated he needed.
Ten more
seconds
. It took a precious second or two for Blade to understand
Sarke’s
next move. He held up his hand, and for a moment
Blade thought he had pumped his fist into the air. A sharply drawn breath from
Flame—whose eyes behind her sunglasses were far sharper than his—clued him in.

Sarke
held a small black object in his
hand.

“
Down!
” she
snapped vehemently into the
comm
and both she and
Blade instinctively crouched and protectively covered their heads and ears. In
retrospect it would be hilarious, a joke that would echo through their team for
years to come. At the time, however, considering
Sarke’s
propensity for bombs and explosive devices, it was far from humorous.

The clanging sirens and
whistles of a car alarm shrilled from a few doors down the street. A silver
sedan’s lights flashed, the horn sounded and a loud cacophony of piercing
shrieks filled the air.

The black object had been
a security device for the sedan that
Sarke
had
purposely set off to distract people. Not a remote detonator for an explosive. Everything
went to hell all at once and in that moment no one had the time or inclination
to needle Flame over her misunderstanding.

“Sniper has rabbited,”
Matthias rapped out over their
comms
. “Likely put off
by
Sarke’s
twitchiness and the sound of the alarm.
I’m in pursuit.”

“I’m right behind Matt,”
Julian panted lightly into his
comm
, still seemingly
at a dead run.

Malone stood in exactly
the position he had been in less than a minute ago when he had beseeched
Sarke
to enter the lab, his mouth partially open in
surprise at the car alarm sounding.
Sarke
brushed
past him with a faint smirk.

“Distraction, old boy,”
he murmured as he quickly pressed a few buttons on the keypad and deactivated
the security.

“Moving in,” Blade
snapped out.

“Covering you,” Will
replied
. “It just had to all go to shit, didn’t it?” he
added almost resignedly.

“When does it ever not go
to shit, man? Besides, like I keep on telling you, it’s just like old times.”

“What the fuck do you
think you’re doing?” Malone shouted as he grabbed for
Sarke’s
arm.
Sarke
shouldered the door open. The flimsy lock
broke with ease and no alarm went off as it had already been deactivated.

Sarke’s
eyes narrowed on Malone and he
shoved him away.

“What the hell is your
problem? We can’t break into a lab and not have a distraction, you—”

Blade and Flame ran
across the road, her gun drawn and he with a wicked-looking dagger in one hand,
his power collecting in the other. All attempts at stealth were over now the
assassin had been taken out of the equation and they ran in the most direct
line across the street toward the two struggling, arguing men.

Sarke’s
eyes widened,
then
narrowed to slits once again as he put the pieces together.

“You fucking asshole,” he
calmly swore at Malone before punching him directly in the face. Blood gushed
everywhere as he broke the man’s nose. A second later
Sarke
whirled around and ducked into the darkness of the laboratory.

“Heads up, Sage,” Blade
said into his comm. “
Sarke
is heading inside the lab
and likely will be on your and Chase’s asses in a moment. Malone is down…
shit,
he’s got a hot one!”

Malone pulled an enormous
handgun from his inner suit pocket and took aim at the fleeing
Sarke
. With an incoherent shout of rage Malone opened fire
into the dark laboratory. Blade and Flame flinched minutely at the glowing
red-orange light from the explosive rounds and their ears rang from the
overpowering sound of the gun firing.