Dance With the Enemy (21 page)

Grainger nodded and took out her phone. With one last look at Blakemore, Logan walked out of the room, dismay washing over him.

Just one more chance. That was all he wanted.

Grainger knocked on the passenger window, making Logan jump. She could tell he’d been deep in his own thoughts. He put his hands onto the steering wheel, gripping it tightly, as if hoping the contact would be able to hide the fact that the tremors in his hands were now worse than ever.

She gave him a big smile when she entered the car.

‘You done?’ he said to her.

‘Yep. I spoke to my boss. He wasn’t too impressed at being woken up in the middle of the night. But he’s sending a team in now. He wants me to wait for them here, contain the scene.’

She saw the deflated look on his face as she spoke.

‘But I don’t think anyone is coming back here,’ she added, smiling again. ‘Selim will be long gone by now. So screw it – the Feds will just have to write me up for it.’

Logan did his best to reciprocate her smile, then pulled away from Blakemore’s gates and headed back in the direction they’d come from earlier.

Grainger could tell Logan wasn’t in a good mood. Losing Selim had really shaken him. She didn’t know the full story yet, but she could read him well enough to know that Selim was the big goal for him. They’d had the chance to get Modena out but Logan had opted to go after Selim instead. She’d gone along with it, hoping he was right – that they could bring Selim down and still get Modena out of there. After all, she knew what a monster Selim was and Logan had every right to want to quash him. But in the end he’d been wrong.

It hadn’t all turned out bad, though. Blakemore wasn’t going to be a problem anymore, that was for sure.

‘So what
did
you tell your boss?’ Logan asked.

‘More or less the truth,’ she said.

‘More or less?’

‘I told him exactly what happened. All except the part about me getting help from an MI6 spy.’

‘MI6?’ Logan said, managing a laugh. ‘
That’s
what you think I am?’

‘You’re telling me you’re not?’ she responded, her smile broadening.

‘I’m not telling you anything.’

‘Well, regardless, he thinks I was acting alone.’

‘He bought that?’

‘Why wouldn’t he? I’m good at this,’ she said, although with no sense of genuine pride. She didn’t like having to lie to people.

‘We’re not left with much to go on now, are we?’ he said.

‘No, we’re not. But you never know when something’s going to come around the corner.’

And she really did mean that. She wanted to help Logan. And she knew her own goal would be helped in the process. Selim, the man whom Logan craved, was holding Modena. And she knew she couldn’t leave Modena out there with that madman. She had to save Modena; Logan could have Selim. And after that, the whole sorry saga could be put to bed.

She yawned, aware that her focus and strength were waning badly. Part of her wanted to keep going. To get to the end right there and then. But she also knew they’d both had a rough few hours – not just at Blakemore’s, but before that as well.

‘I guess we’ve got a bit of time to kill,’ she said. ‘Before anything else is likely to happen at Blakemore’s place.’

‘Yeah, I guess we do,’ Logan said, looking over at her quizzically. ‘It’s not even four a.m. yet. And we don’t have to check out at the hotel till one. Why not just crash out there? I could do with a rest anyway. You’re a tiring guy to be around, Carl Logan.’

He mulled over the prospect for a bit too long. He was clearly torn, wanting to find some excuse to carry on. But where else could they go? What would they do?

‘Okay, let’s do that,’ he said eventually.

It was still dark out when they reached the hotel and the temperature had dropped further. They both shivered as they made their way across the deserted car park, which was barely lit by a single overhead orange streetlight that cast an eerie glow over the cars below.

They made their way up to the second floor and Logan opened the door to their room. He headed in first and sat down on the unmade bed.

‘I know you’re disappointed, but we did good back there,’ Grainger said, still standing by the doorway.

‘You think?’

‘Yeah, I do.’ She closed the door, moved over towards him and stood over him at the side of the bed. ‘No way were they expecting us to be so close. Just look at the way they scarpered when we turned up. We’ve got them on the run now.’

‘True. But we may have just panicked them. Modena’s chances of getting out of this alive are looking a lot slimmer now.’

‘I don’t believe that,’ she said, not quite fully believing her own words. ‘Selim knows we’re onto him. He’s a long way from home and that may just prove to be a deal-breaker for him. We may have them running scared.’

‘I’m glad you were there with me, Grainger,’ Logan said, looking up at her and taking her hand. His forward move shocked her initially but she didn’t recoil. ‘It’s not how I normally do things, but I think we made a good team.’

‘We did,’ she said, squeezing his hand. ‘I could never have done all that on my own. I would’ve called in a whole team of people to do what we just did. You’ve shown me a thing or two today.’

She truly was grateful for that. When she’d abandoned him the previous day she’d felt so alone. She’d taken it upon herself to finish this off on her own because it had seemed the only way. But whether because of what his job entailed or because his desire to fell Selim so closely aligned with her needs, she knew now that their being together was beneficial for them both. At least until Modena was safe.

But there was more to it than that. Twice in just a few hours Logan had shown himself to be courageous, a true warrior, and he had saved her life. Even though she knew it would only complicate
everything, she couldn’t help but feel an attraction to him. And it was strong.

The draw that he had on her was so different to what she’d felt for the last man she’d been with – her ex-husband, Tom. He’d been the perfect choice for her. He was tall, dark and handsome, came from a solid family, and was a fellow FBI officer. It was like they had been destined to be together. At least that was what everyone else thought, her dad included. In the end, it really hadn’t been quite so perfect. It wasn’t that she had never been attracted to Tom, but with him everything had been so easy. And plain.

‘And that was the first time you’ve fired your weapon in the line of duty?’ Logan said.

‘Yeah. It was,’ she said, taking her hand back and looking down at her feet as though embarrassed by the fact.

It wasn’t just the first time she had used her gun, it was the first time she had killed someone. She had expected to be a bit more shaken up by it than she was. Maybe it would hit her later on that she had taken a life today. It could just be that she was still in denial about it.

‘How are those stitches holding?’

She sat down next to him on the bed, close to him. Her hand reached out and gently touched the wounds on his face, making him flinch. She saw goose-bumps rise on his neck.

‘They seem to be doing pretty good,’ she said, feeling at the stitches above his eye. ‘We can leave those in, I reckon.’

But he didn’t seem to be listening. He was staring at her, his thoughts somewhere else. She looked into his eyes and guessed what he was thinking. It was lousy timing and probably completely the wrong move to make at that moment, but despite herself, she was thinking it too.

He gently cupped her face in his right hand and moved his face close to hers so that their lips were only inches apart. She didn’t make an attempt to move away at all. She lowered her hand from his face and looked deep into his eyes.

‘Carl, what are you doing?’ she said.

‘I don’t know.’

And then she closed the gap completely, kissing him on the lips. Lightly at first, holding the position for a few seconds.
Then, almost as if it were synchronised, they both parted their lips and allowed their tongues to dance. He pulled her closer to him and she gave a faint murmur.

They released from the kiss, looking longingly at each other, both waiting to see how the other would react next.

‘You sure you’re okay with this?’ he said.

‘Carl, know when to shut up.’

She reached down, took hold of her jumper and pulled it off over her head. He did the same, then drew her in again, kissing her even more passionately than before. After enjoying the kiss for a long period, she began to move away from him, standing up. He followed, their lips not parting.

They began to fumble at each other’s trousers. As she reached inside his pants, Logan let out a gasp. She grabbed hold of him, instantly arousing him. With just one hand, he unhooked her bra, exposing her breasts, nipples erect. She pressed up against him, an incredible feeling of flesh on flesh. She murmured again, louder, as he lightly caressed the inside of her leg, moving his fingers slowly upwards, rubbing the outside of her cotton knickers.

They both removed what was left of their clothing, without ever halting their kiss, then fell back onto the bed, Grainger on top, her body draped over Logan as they made love.

The racket caused by the phone vibrating on the bedside table shook Mackie rudely from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he reached out with the other to pick up the device, fumbling around in the dark before he finally grabbed it.

He didn’t check the caller ID before he answered, but said, ‘Hello,’ with his eyes still half shut.

‘Sir, it’s me.’

‘Winter.’ Mackie sat up in bed drowsily and turned on the bedside lamp, then looked at the clock next to where the phone had been on the bedside table. It was five in the morning. ‘What the hell is it? Do you know what time it is?’

Mackie’s wife, Janet, stirred next to him.

‘Sorry, but this is urgent,’ said Winter. ‘It’s about Logan.’

‘Shit,’ Mackie said. ‘Just give me a minute.’

He got up and walked through the dark room, then turned on the light in the en-suite bathroom before entering and shutting the door. He looked at his dishevelled appearance in the mirror, then rubbed his eyes again with his spare hand.

‘What’s he done now?’ he said, trying his best to wake up.

He was guessing it was serious, given the tone of Winter’s voice and the fact that he had dared call so early. He wondered whether Winter had been woken in the night too or whether he hadn’t actually gone to bed yet. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time his assistant had worked through the night.

‘Richard Blakemore’s dead. Killed in his own home. Two others dead at his house too.’

Mackie suddenly became alert. He cursed loudly, an instinctive reaction, then looked nervously over at the bathroom door, aware he had been too noisy.

Just what kind of chaos had Logan caused now?

‘And Modena?’

‘No sign of him. Apparently Selim escaped with Modena. But I’ve heard that Modena was still alive when he left the house.’

‘You’ve spoken to Logan?’

‘No, not at all. In fact, what I’m telling you got called in by an FBI agent, Angela Grainger.’

‘So this isn’t Logan’s mess?’ Mackie said, confused and also alarmed. How had the FBI got to Blakemore before Logan? Then he thought back to the reports that Logan had been seen exiting the car park in Paris with a woman. It was all starting to make a bit more sense.

‘Well, depends how much you believe in coincidences,’ Winter said. ‘Logan was certainly heading to Blakemore’s last time you spoke to him.’

Mackie cursed again. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. Logan was in cahoots with the FBI agent. Just what the hell was he playing at?

‘So what exactly did this FBI agent report?’

‘Well, there’s no mention of Logan, if that’s what you mean.’

‘But it does sound like his style,’ Mackie said, referring to the growing body count that seemed to be following Logan’s every move. ‘We need to get hold of him. Now.’

‘I’ve tried calling, but he’s not answering. I’ve got no idea what he’s up to now.’

‘I’ve got a pretty good idea what he might be doing,’ Mackie said, anger rising up inside him. He clenched his fist, trying his best to resist the urge to smash it against the marble counter.

Even for Logan, this was a step too far. Running around with an FBI agent? Was he really that naive? Or was he just so clouded by his vendetta against Selim that he’d lost all sense of how to carry out his job? Mackie had already resolved to ignore the demands of Sanderson and Lindegaard and keep Logan out in the field, though he’d had a hard time figuring out exactly what had led him to make that decision. He felt a duty toward Logan, there was no doubt about that. He also wanted to bring Selim
down once and for all. And Lindegaard had got his back up and he was now intent on defying him regardless, even if Logan wasn’t making that decision any easier to stand by.

But he’d also genuinely thought that Logan was about to finish the job off. With Selim escaping Logan’s reach and taking Modena with him, maybe he’d been wrong. About everything.

‘Is there anything at Blakemore’s house to help us?’

‘It’s too early to tell. The French police are all over that place now. We can’t send anyone from the JIA in. We’ll just have to sit back and wait to see what they find.’

‘Give me some good news. Who has Lindegaard sent out there? Is it someone we can trust?’

‘I was coming to that. It’s not quite as straightforward as you’d hope, though. It’s Evans who’s been sent out to Paris.’

Mackie knew of Evans. He was a slippery character, more of a tactician than a combatant. Very different to Logan. But he didn’t overly worry Mackie. In fact, his brain might be a helping hand. If Mackie could get the chance to bring him onside.

‘So what’s not straightforward?’ Mackie said, bemused.

He spun around, surprised, when there was a knock at the bathroom door.

‘Honey? Is everything okay?’

He took the phone away from his ear and covered the receiver. ‘Yes, dear,’ he said to his wife. ‘I’ll be out in a minute. It’s work.’

‘Work! At this time! Jesus, Charles, do you never know when to stop?’

‘Just go to bed! I’ll be out in a minute.’

She huffed and muttered something he couldn’t make out.

‘You still there?’ Mackie heard Winter say.

‘Yeah, I’m here. You were saying?’

‘I was saying I’m not sure if you’re going to like this or not. I’ve managed to get into Lindegaard’s phone. I’ve been tracking his calls and messages for the last few hours.’

‘Good work,’ Mackie said. He looked in the mirror and smiled. Winter was beginning to show himself to be a real asset.

‘Well, it’s good and it’s bad. You said you wanted some dirt on Lindegaard?’

‘Absolutely. What have you got?’

‘It seems he’s been in contact with a guy called Marko Dragovic.
I’ve dug into him and he’s a Serbian immigrant who lives in France.’

‘Is this the good news or bad news?’

‘Both. The good news is I think we’ve found some dirt. This Dragovic is a known bad guy. He works as an enforcer for a Serbian gang in Paris: they run prostitution, drugs, the usual kind of thing.’

‘He could just be an informant, surely? Don’t forget, Lindegaard still runs his own cases for the CIA.’

‘Oh, absolutely, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how Lindegaard would know of him. Either directly as an informant or via someone else.’

‘So what’s the dirt then?’

‘Well, that brings me on to the bad news. A couple of hours ago, Lindegaard sent over a picture of Logan to Dragovic and the address of a hotel not far from Blakemore’s farmhouse. I think Logan is about to get a very unwelcome visit.’