Bare Facts (18 page)

“Indeed, but not in this alleyway.”

Gumi got up from the ground and shoved Daniel into the backseat of the car. Suki got into front seat on the passenger side. Gumi got behind the wheel and started the car.

Daniel sank back into the leather seats, working his wrists to try to free them, but the cuffs were too tight. He deliberately tugged harder until he felt the cuffs cut into the skin of his wrist, knowing the blood would make his hands slippery and give him a chance to slip free.

His ribs ached and his face was pulsing in time to his heartbeat. And deep inside he ached for Charity, for the risks he’d taken a lifetime ago that she was now paying for.

He glanced over at the man sitting next to him. They had the same missing right digit. They had the same tattooed dragon on their backs and they had the same hatred in their hearts. Only a man who was once closer than a brother could understand betrayal the way Daniel and Sekijima did.

His enemy—a man he’d once left for dead—sat less than three feet away from him. He ignored Sekijima, stalling for time as he marshaled his thoughts. He needed to know if his enemy wanted something more than he wanted him dead.

“How’d you do it?” Daniel asked.

“How’d I do what?” Sekijima asked, his Japanese accent still thick after all these years.

“Come back from the dead,” Daniel specified. Killing was something he knew inside and out. Usually when he made a hit, his target wasn’t a threat again.

“You aren’t as good as you once were, Gashira Hosa,” Sekijima said, watching him with those shrewd black eyes of his.

Daniel felt the failure deep inside himself. A part of him demanded payment from himself for the mistake, and he knew that before the night was through he’d be in the position to kill Sekijima again—and this time he was going to make damned sure the man stayed dead.

“I’m not your second anymore.”

Sekijima lifted his hand and rubbed the thin scar around his neck where Daniel had cut him with a wire. The neck injury had been up close and personal, the way Daniel had wanted it. He should have bled out, Daniel thought.

“I’m well aware of that, but you do still owe the Dragon Lords.” The fact that Sekijima was back with the Dragon Lords was significant. He would have had to overthrow the Oyabun who’d taken his place—his own brother.

It was another chink between them. The man he’d known and admired had put family at the front of all of his actions. And if Sekijima had killed his brother…

Daniel shook his head. “That debt was paid a long time ago.”

Sekijima took a small, thin cigarillo from a case and lit it. The smell was pungent and familiar, taking Daniel back to his childhood.

“I’ll decide when it’s paid.”

So that’s what this was all about. The roughing-up of his staff was retaliation for leaving his old friend dead. Sekijima wanted him for something else—he knew what it was. The old business scheme. The importation of people and not products. Smuggling.

Could he do it again? Hell, yes, if it meant that Charity would walk free and live out the rest of her days happily, then he’d gladly sell his soul to Sekijima. Daniel didn’t fool himself that if he got back into bed with Sekijima, he’d be able to save any of the goodness he’d found in the last few years. The blackness in his heart would grow and eclipse him.

“What do you want?” he said levelly, looking at a man who’d once had a shred of decency in him that had been bred out over the years.

“The same thing you do.”

“And that is?” Daniel asked, trying not to feel like he was looking into a mirror.

“For the girl to live.”

“What girl?”

“Your girl. The tall blonde. We found evidence on the plane that you used her body,” Sekijima said.

“She means nothing to me,” Daniel said. He wasn’t ready to play into Sekijima’s hands just yet. He had to be careful how and if he played his trump card. Giving up his soul was something he’d promised himself he’d never do, but to save his heart, to save Charity, it was the very least he could do.

Daniel fought not to react. He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened privately between him and Charity.

And he had no doubt that Charity
was
his heart. Just the thought of her in trouble or captured made him want to do whatever it took to keep her safe.

“For your sake, I hope so.”

C
harity tried to keep the Babe’s motto in the front of her mind as she drove through the Seattle traffic. She wasn’t a big baseball fan, but come on, everyone loved the Babe.

In her mind was the fact that Sekijima hadn’t given up. And Daniel never would. There was no way for anything to end between the two men that didn’t involve bloodshed.

“Where are you, Justine?”

“Following the Mercedes. It’s turned into a warehouse area. I’m sending you the GPS coordinates. I’m going to have to drop back or I’ll be spotted.”

Charity received the GPS coordinates in her BlackBerry. The navigational system automatically spit out three different courses she could take. She chose the most direct. “I’m en route.”

“Where’s Anna?”

“She took Amanda to lockup,” Charity said.

“Amanda?”

“That’s the woman who tried to use me as bait,” Charity said, trying to find the calm center she’d need to function efficiently, but it was damned hard. She’d lost her client. She never lost a person she was guarding before, and that was because Daniel had insisted on acting on his own.

Hell, she was smarter than that. She should have put her foot down instead of caving like she had.

“Ah. Is she still breathing?” Justine asked.

Charity shook her head. As much as she’d wanted to choke the life out of that bitch who tried to use her, she hadn’t. She wasn’t in the vigilante business anymore.

“Yes. I’m a bodyguard, not a hit man.”

“True enough. Eurasian super-model?”

“Yes, that’s her.”

“She was eyeing your man,” Justine said.

“He’s not my man. He’s our client.”

“You’re not still telling yourself that?” Justine asked.

“Justine, focus on the job.”

“I can do two things at once. Men love that.”

“What’s with you?”

“Giddy, ready to fight. It feels like months since I’ve seen any action.”

Charity’s entire body ached. She hated getting hit. Justine liked a good fistfight, said the blows made her feel alive, but she wasn’t like that. She preferred the distance of a hand gun. Didn’t really like the personal feel of hand to hand combat.

With a weapon she could distance herself, and she needed that distance to keep her cool and enable her to do her job. She still did it with hand to hand, but she could remember the feel of the other person under her hands.

“It’s only been a little over a week since your bruises faded from your last assignment,” Charity pointed out. She worried about Justine. Her friend was getting more tightly wound and needed to go out and fight more often.

“I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about. You okay?”

“Yeah,” Charity said, though she doubted that she was anymore. How could her entire life change in one day? The answer was simple—it hadn’t. She’d been changing for a while now. It was only Daniel who was making her realize what she’d been hiding from. “Are you on foot?”

“Will be in a second. I’m arming up.”

“Arming up? How many are in there with him?”

“There were three in the car when they took him. I don’t know how many we’ll find when we go in.”

“I’m armed, so we should be good.”

“Should I take the RPG launcher?”

“Not unless you’re planning to burn down the entire warehouse area.”

“You have a point,” Justine said. “They beat him up, Charity. This isn’t just blackmail or extortion. They want his blood.”

Charity’s gut tightened and she found that cold rage that she’d used to kill her parents’ murderer years ago. She’d always been aware of it there in the bottom of her soul, but she kept her distance from that part of herself.

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he gave as good as he got,” Justine said, and there was a note of respect in her voice that had never been there before.

“He always does.”

“You’d know.” She heard the solid thunk of the trunk closing and then nothing but wind. Justine was on the move.

“It’s not like that,” Charity said, but it
was
like that.

“Yeah, it is—you’re just afraid to admit it. He’s not someone you can manipulate, like Senator Perry.”

“You’re right—he’s nothing like Perry.”

Charity made a turn that took her down toward the warehouses, wanting to focus on rescuing Daniel and taking care of the threat to him. And then what? She had no idea.

“I’m going to park a few blocks over.”

“Good. I’m tracking him. He’s not in the first two warehouses on the left—closest to the water.”

“Affirmative. I’m on my way. I’ll start on the right and work my way to you.”

“Sounds good. I’m going silent.”

“Affirmative,” Charity said.

She ran quickly through the streets, loosening her body up. Her muscles still ached but the adrenaline pumping through her body dulled the pain. Her ponytail hit the back of her neck as she ran.

She tried not to think about everything Justine had said. Tried not to imagine Daniel beat up and in pain. She wanted…something she wasn’t going to find with him.

He gave as good as he got.

Those words echoed in her mind, reminding her that he wasn’t like the other CEOs she’d guarded. He was a man who knew how to hold his own with the dregs of society. He was a street punk who’d made good but she knew he hadn’t lost that part of himself.

She didn’t mind that because it made him who he was. But she also knew that there was no future with a street punk.

The Mercedes pulled right up to one of the biggest warehouses that Williams Import/Export owned. Daniel felt like a complete idiot for not expecting Sekijima to hit here. The only excuse he had was that all of the other attacks had been personal.

“Get out,” Sekijima said as Gumi opened the door.

“Make me,” Daniel said, having decided he wasn’t going down easy. His thigh was aching and he felt his pulse as the blood slowly oozed from the gunshot wound. His wrists were one big ache. Yet he wasn’t going to cooperate.

“Daniel, I only need you alive, not in one piece,” Sekijima said, pulling his gun from the shoulder holster.

“Why do you need me?” Daniel asked. It was the one thing he hadn’t been able to figure out. Sekijima’s revenge he understood.

“I want this business back.”

“It’s not yours.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on this. You will take on a new partner—Gumi.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Is our friend inside?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Daniel, let’s go. You can either walk in there on your own…”

He hated threats. “Like I’m afraid of you.”

“You always had more balls than brains.”

“And I always knew how to use both.”

“True enough,” Sekijima said, lowering the barrel of the gun toward his uninjured leg. Daniel swung toward the open door, stepping out on that uninjured leg. He needed at least one leg that was fully functional if he was going to save himself and Charity.

Daniel ached from head to toe as he walked into the building. His night shift security guard was slumped at an odd angle just inside the doorway. And not bound. Daniel knew the man was dead. The lights in the office at the back of the warehouse were on and his night shift supervisor was visible.

Corbin’s face was bloodied and he had that dazed look that came from being hit too many times. He perked up when he saw Daniel but resignation spread over the other man’s face quickly as he realized that Sekijima held a gun at Daniel’s back.

There were two underlings working Corbin over. They had his hands bound above his head to a rope that was suspended over the exposed iron rafter in the ceiling. There were no ceiling panels in this office.

“What do you want from him?” Daniel asked.

“Nothing. He’s your man, so he’s our enemy.”

“Let him go.”

“Ah, Daniel, has it really been so long? We let no one go.”

Corbin blanched, his knees buckling as the impact of Sekijima’s words sank in. He noticed the long cuts on Corbin’s arms. They’d stripped the shirt from the other man so Daniel could see the mottled bruising along his ribs and stomach.

Daniel shook his head. “This man has nothing to do with the business between us. I’ll consider his release a goodwill gesture.”

“I don’t want your goodwill.”

Fucking bastard, Daniel thought. He tested the strength of his injured thigh, leaning heavily on it and waiting to see if it would take his weight.

He’d be able to lash out with it but he needed room. And this office was small and crowded with six people in it. And Corbin, strung up as he was.

“You do if you want your new partner to survive. You can’t watch me 24/7 and I’m not going to cooperate unless you stop killing my people.”

Sekijima shook his head. “I’ll consider it. For now that man stays where he is.”

Suki returned to the room and walked over to Sekijima. She put her hand on his shoulder and then slid it down his chest, leaning in low to whisper in his ear. She let her breasts brush against Sekijima’s arm. Daniel knew that the woman was Sekijima’s lover.

Sekijima nodded at whatever she said and then turned to Gumi. “Tie him up and then meet me in the other warehouse.”

“Are we done?”

“Not by a long shot, Daniel. We just have a loose end to wrap up.”

Charity, he wondered? He wanted to know she was safe but knew she could handle herself. He was going to have to trust that she was everything she’d said she was. Of course, he’d seen the proof firsthand.

Gumi would be easy to take. Daniel shifted to the side so he could assess the other man better. Sekijima returned, raising his left hand and clubbing him on the side of the head with the gun in his fist.

He blacked out as he fell to the floor. The blackout was momentary and he struggled not to give in to the darkness. He lay still on the floor.

“Get him up and in that chair.”

Daniel was lifted and placed in a chair. His bound hands burned as Gumi released the flex cuffs and tied his arms to the arms of the chair. His feet were then bound to the legs of the chair. He kept his head down, trying to act as if he were still woozy from the hit.

Sekijima grabbed his chin and wrenched his head higher. Staring into the black eyes of the man he’d once called brother really brought home to Daniel how much his life had changed.

“What’s going on?” Charity asked as she joined Justine on the roof of the most central warehouse.

“They just took Daniel in there,” Justine said, pointing to the door immediately to their left. “Where is the security team that works for Williams Import?”

“I have no idea. Alonzo’s out of commission, so it could be that whoever the second in command is…isn’t that competent.”

“Could be?”

“Sarcasm isn’t really helpful right now.”

“To each his own.”

“Stop it, Justine.”

“Sorry. I’m edgy. One guy is already dead in there.”

“Daniel?”

“No, an older man. Near the doorway,” Justine said, handing Charity her high-powered binoculars.

She adjusted the night vision goggles and saw the man Justine had described. “Where’s Daniel?”

“They walked toward the rear of the building and I lost them.”

“What about the listening device we had on Daniel?”

“Anna’s monitoring that one.”

“Anna? You there?”

“Yes. Just back—sorry. I had to let the machine record Daniel’s piece. We need one more girl to really function well in this kind of situation.”

“Tell Sam,” Justine said.

“I plan to. Okay, there was the sound of a fight,” Anna said. “Two people named Gumi and Suki. I’m running the names but they are common in Japan and I doubt I’ll find a match.”

“I witnessed the fight. I can give you a description if they get away tonight,” Justine said.

“Good. Sam wants everyone in custody and said to keep the body count low.”

“We’ve already got one.”

“Ours?”

“Theirs.”

“Bloody hell, I don’t like this setup. Sekijima wants Daniel to take on a silent partner. He is using Charity as bait. He must not know that you escaped.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, he could be bluffing.”

“Yeah, well, Daniel probably doesn’t know what to believe,” Charity said.

Justine shook her head. “He’s in there because he believes they have you and he wants to rescue you.”

Charity didn’t want to believe that. If that was true, then she’d just compromised his safety by being intimate with him.

“How are we getting him out of there?” Charity asked, focusing on the one thing she could do right now, and that was her job.

“I say we both go in, and go in hard. Weapons drawn, bullets flying. Take out as many of the bastards as we can,” Justine said.

“Did you hear what I said about body count? Sam wants it low,” Anna said through their earpieces.

Charity sat up so she was watching the rooftop and their back trail while Justine kept her eye on the warehouse.

“I’m just saying it’s quick and efficient and I haven’t heard any other ideas.”

Charity ran the different variables through her head. Daniel would operate under the assumption that she was captured. He would assume she’d try to escape and he would…what? Would he wait until he knew she was safe before he made a move?

“We need to let Daniel know that I’m not captured,” Charity said. “Then he can focus on himself and stop trying to protect me.”

In the background she heard the sound of Anna’s fingers moving over her keyboard. “I can send an alert to his BlackBerry, but all that will do is vibrate it. Can he read his messages?”

“Ah, no. He’s tied up,” Justine said.

“So we’re stuck with him not knowing,” Charity said. She couldn’t give a definite reason, but she was sure it was imperative that Daniel know she was safe. Otherwise, she feared he’d end up dying in there to protect her.

“Give me a minute,” Anna said in that distracted way she had when she was working on a problem.

“Then my plan is the best one. That way we can hit Sekijima hard, eliminate at least part of his crew, and then rescue Daniel,” Justine insisted.

“What if he just kills Daniel while we’re blowing the hell out of his crew?”

Justine was silent. Charity kept vigilant, knowing Justine would have picked a secure location for the lookout, but always knowing better than to let her guard down.