Girl Undercover 10 & 11: The Abduction & Dante's Inferno (3 page)

“Yes, that I do have,” I said and rolled my eyes as I let out a “whew;” I
did
have tons to take care of if I was going to leave the city in a few hours for who knew how long. I didn’t doubt for a second that Ian would have an easier time than I would finding me the right flight to L.A. Though it would surely cost him a pretty penny. Of course, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it. I pushed back my chair and stood up. “Okay, then I’ll go back home and continue packing. You’ll check back with me later then?”

“Count on it.”

***

Ian kept his word. Three hours later I received a text from him, informing me that I had a flight leaving out of JFK at eight fifty p.m. that same night. First class with American Airlines. He’d also arranged for a car to pick me up a couple of hours before and take me to the airport.

Against my will, I was impressed with how efficiently he’d managed to take care of the situation on such short notice, and that he’d put me in first class. The best seat I’d ever gotten to enjoy on a flight was premium economy. Struggling to fall asleep in a bed, there was no chance in hell I’d be able to fall asleep in the regular economy section, squished between two other people while in a practically upright positon. Flying first class, I’d hopefully get some shut-eye during the six-hour flight and then be ready to go when I landed. With all that I had to do in preparation for our planned abduction, I’d be exhausted by the time it was time for me to fly.

I had already connected with Dante and told him I had a job for him and Jose and whoever else was available to help us who we could also trust. We would need at least two, preferably three or four more guys, all strong and smart, for the kidnapping to go smoothly. Continuing to be paranoid in the extreme about The Adler Group tapping our phones despite all the precautions we were taking, I told Dante that I would explain everything in more detail when we saw each other. All he needed to know right now was that he and his friends had to be available for me after six p.m. tomorrow night. I wasn’t feeling comfortable about asking him for the extra muscle over the phone—anyone who overheard us would surely suspect I was up to something hearing that. However, while I could wait to figure out a place to put the doctors in, I didn’t want to wait getting a team ready to help me.

After sitting down in my wide seat in the first-class section of the huge plane, I was pleased to learn from the stewardess that it folded completely flat, turning into a real bed. Smiling to myself, I knew I’d probably sleep like a baby there.

And I did. I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes when I walked through the arrivals exit at LAX. Not fully awake yet, I didn’t immediately spot Dante, who stood next to the ropes that cased in the large space on the other side of the sliding doors. As built as ever, he wore ripped jeans and a sleeveless, black T-shirt that showed off his muscular arms covered in tattoos. His dark curls were the exact same length as the last time we’d seen each other, and he had a pair of aviator-style sunglasses shoved up on his head to keep the hair away from his face.

Almost tripping and losing my heavy suitcase in the process, I rushed up to my old friend and disappeared into his warm embrace.

“Hola, chica,”
he said in his velvety voice that always made me feel like I was home. “Welcome back to the City of Angels...”

“Thanks,” I mumbled into his strong shoulder. “It’s good to be back, though I wish it were under other circumstances.”

We let go and just looked at one another in silence for several beats. Dante was the first to break it. “Damn, seeing you in that red hair is so friggin’
weird.
You really do look like a whole different person. Are you gonna get rid of it now that you’re back?”

“Eventually, yes. When the roots start to show and I can’t stand it any longer. For now it might behoove me to look like a whole different person. Not sure I want people we know to realize I’m in the city for a while.”

I scanned the large, quiet arrivals hall for any suspicious-looking individuals. Even though I didn’t think Jonah had sent people to spy on me, I still didn’t feel totally at ease. That night on the Brooklyn Bridge had definitely scarred me when it came to my so-called boyfriend. Not that I hadn’t already known what he was all about, but I think having seen it with my own eyes, not just imagining it, had really done a number on me.

I smiled at Dante. “Hey, let’s get out of here.”

“Sure.” He grabbed my suitcase and together we left the arrivals hall, then headed over to the parking house where he’d left his car. I couldn’t help but stop dead in my tracks when Dante stopped next to a red Corvette convertible. It looked brand new, the polish shiny and blemish-free. My eyes went back to Dante, who sported a proud grin now.

“So you finally bought it then?” I asked, grinning myself as his was contagious. For as long as I had known Dante, he’d dreamed of becoming an owner of this kind of sports car.

“Yup,” he nodded and used the remote key to unlock the car doors, then threw my suitcase into the trunk. “Last month. Set me back sixty-five grand, but it was the studio’s four-year anniversary and we’re killing it, so I thought I deserved to buy myself a little present.”

“Good for you,” I said and walked around to the passenger side. I opened the door and slid into the tan leather seat that smelled as new as the car looked. “It’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to drive it myself one day.” I winked at him teasingly, knowing just what a predicament I’d put him in by saying that. On the one hand, I was like the sister Dante never had, someone he didn’t want to deny anything, but on the other, I was well aware how precious this car must be to him. And I wasn’t the most careful driver.

He sent me a wink back, replying with a diplomatic, “One day.” Then he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Soon we were zipping along the 405 freeway, the lukewarm air blowing my hair away from my face as I took in the flat geography that was Los Angeles, so very different from Manhattan. The night sky had a purple tint to it and the moon was so new you could barely make out the white crescent.

“So wanna tell me what the deal is now?” Dante asked as he confidently zoomed by a couple of slower-moving vehicles. “Jose and I have been making bets about why you’re so secretive. Since he doesn’t know about the conspiracy yet, I’m thinking I’ll be the winner. He thinks you wanna beat someone up, but I think you’re lookin’ to get rid of a few super humans. Only I didn’t describe them as super humans to him, just said regular people. Am I right?”

“Yeah, actually you are—sort of. I
am
looking to get rid of a couple of people, but I’m pretty sure they’re not super humans.” I looked at him. “You didn’t give him the lowdown yet? Why not?”

“I thought you didn’t want me to tell anyone at all.”

“Only Ricki and others who’re known to blab a little too much. Jose would be okay.” I patted his hand on the gear stick. “Don’t get me wrong. I of course appreciate it that you took my wish to heart. You can tell him about it now, though.”

Dante laughed.
“You
do it,
querida.
He’s not gonna believe me. Now tell me why you need me and others to help you get rid of people. What’s goin’ on?”

I gave him a quick rundown of the situation with Jonah and the two doctors scheduled to arrive shortly.

Dante wiped away imaginary sweat from his olive forehead. “Phew! And I who was convinced we’d be stopping the leaders of an alien invasion or somethin’.”

I frowned at him. “Leaders of an alien invasion? What made you think
that?”

He frowned back at me. “Do you really have to ask that? After what you told me, I’m prepared for anything. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of those two docs for you. Me and Jose will have two of my trainers to help us. I know you wanted more, but these two are as good as five normal guys. They’re both fighters and no dummies.”

“Okay. And you’re sure they can be trusted?”

“You mean if they’re aliens or somethin’?”

“Hybrids, Dante, not aliens. Or super humans if you prefer that term. That’s what we’re dealing with. Or at least I think that’s it.” I sighed and leaned back into the seat. “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that aliens are involved as well. Maybe you’re onto something.”

I nudged him with my elbow and smiled crookedly.

“Let’s hope you’re not right about that. I’m still having a hard time getting over the fact that we’ll be messin’ with people who’re part animal. Or that they might be working for me.” He screwed up his face.

“Just because they might have a few genes from animals in their DNA doesn’t mean they’re not human,” I was quick to say, Ian’s words echoing through my mind. “They’re just different. Please don’t ever forget that.”

“Whatever you say. But, yeah, my two guys can be trusted to answer your question. They’re most definitely fully human, both of them. One of them is an ugly bastard, but the best fighter I’ve ever met. The other is flamboyantly gay and a martial artist. I would think ugly dudes and homosexuals are big no-nos to those Adele freaks. Am I right?”

“Adler, not Adele. Yeah, probably. I actually don’t know if they’ve come up with a way to make sure all their product is straight, but it makes sense that they’d prefer them to be hetero. Surely being gay would be considered a flaw in their twisted minds.”

“Either way, they can both be trusted, so don’t you worry about them. Where are we gonna put the doctors? You have a place in mind?”

“Not yet. But I’ll think of one. Unless you know of a good one?”

Dante scrunched up his face, staring out over the road before us that had filled up with more and more cars the closer to Santa Monica we got. “How long are we gonna keep them?”

“Potentially almost six months.”

Dante snapped his head around, staring at me instead. “Six
months?
That’s a long fuckin’ time.”

“Yeah, well, let’s hope it won’t be for that long, but it could be. The coups are supposed to take place New Year’s Eve and that’s five and a half months’ away. But hopefully Ian and I will have found a way to stop them long before that, and then we don’t need to keep the doctors any longer. I’ll be able to stop pretending I’m with my mother—who’s gonna turn out to be an incredible challenge for them to cure.” I sighed as I envisioned my conversations regarding this issue with Jonah. He’d be in for some tough news. This time around, his father’s amazing doctors would not only fail to cure my mom’s cancer in a week or two, they would fail to cure her at all. And all the while I’d have to make them come up with new plausible reasons as to why they kept failing. To say it would be a challenge was a gross understatement, actually.

“If we need to keep them for that long, we should put them in an apartment or a house somewhere they’ll be hard to find,” Dante said. “And from where they’ll have a hard time escaping in case they try.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best. Know of any of those?”

“Let me sleep on it and I should be able to come up with one. You wanna come to my house or are you going to your old apartment?”

Just the thought of going back to the apartment where I used to live with Nick made me shiver like I was naked in Iceland during winter. I’d gone there once to pick up clothes and other stuff to bring with me as I prepared for my trip to New York, having taken a boatload of anti-anxiety pills to dull my senses prior. But I didn’t think I’d be able to do it again, no matter how numbed out I was, not to mention sleep in the bedroom where I’d found my husband’s brutalized body.

I cleared my throat and pushed away the jarring images of that fateful day. “Actually, I had planned on sleeping at the W in Westwood.”

“Are you kiddin’ me? You’ve booked a hotel room in your hometown? I can see why you don’t want to go back to your old place, but why not stay with your parents? Or me? Ricki would love it if you came over.”

“Well, the reason I’m not staying with my parents is ’cause I’m not ready to deal with all the questions they’ll bombard me with. You know how they are. The hair alone is enough for them to think I’m struggling so much with my grief that I’ve transformed into another person. Not to say I haven’t struggled with grief, but I’m not in the mood nor do I have the time to discuss it with my parents. And I’d love to see Ricki and my godson, but I honestly think it would be wiser if we kept mum about my return to the city for now.”

“Yeah, you’re right. If we’re gonna keep those two hostage for six months, there’ll be plenty of time for you to see your godson and everyone else anyway.”

“Exactly. So take me to the W.”

“Okay. Have you told Brady yet?”

When Dante went to visit my captain a second time, he found out that Brady had been released from the hospital due to having improved drastically. I received an email from my boss only hours after Dante had texted me he was gone. In the email, Brady apologized for taking so long before he got back to me, explaining that he’d suffered a massive heart attack and had been hospitalized, but was now fully recovered, though not back at work yet. He also mentioned that he’d been wrong about the two suspects, who had been cut loose after being interrogated. He ended the email with a wish that I was happy in Hungary and that he was still confident Nick’s killers would be found despite the misstep.

“No,” I replied to Dante’s question. “But I will talk to him soon. After we’ve abducted the doctors. Since I’ve yet to inform him about the conspiracy, I don’t think he’d be okay with what we’re going to do. We are after all about to break the law. In a
big
way…”

Chapter 3

Dante and I were standing in one of the recently built conference rooms in the terminal at the Van Nuys Airport, gazing out at the dark evening sky through thick glass walls. The walls were divided into several smaller squares due to lots of steel grating, which made me feel like I was in a high-tech prison.

“There it is,” Dante said, pointing at a tiny shape approaching us. In silence we watched how Stenger’s jet grew bigger and bigger in the sky, then landed on the long runway outside. A myriad of small red and orange lights outlined the landing strip, making it easy to see what was on it. There was no doubt this plane belonged to The Adler Group—the company’s name was painted in large, bright letters on the aircraft’s body, impossible to ignore.