No One Lives Twice (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) (34 page)

Putting Plan A into effect, I quietly knelt down beside the bed. Finn didn’t move and there was no change in his breathing. I leaned over and groped blindly for the handcuffs. It wasn’t as easy as I had expected and I had to lean over so far, my hair fell slightly onto his chest.

Just as my fingers closed around the handcuff, Finn’s eyes snapped open. I was so frightened, I nearly screamed.

“Lexi?” he said, blinking and apparently confused. “What are you doing?”

“Uh, um, I…” I stammered idiotically, frozen half-poised over his body. My hair rested on his chest, my face mere inches from his, but I didn’t move. There was no way in hell I was letting go of the cuffs now that I had them in my grasp. My heart thundered as Plan A evaporated in a puff of smoke, but I tried to remain calm as I moved into Plan B.

Seduction.

Oh, God. I wasn’t sure I could do this.

“Just relax, Finn,” I said in the huskiest voice I could manage. “I think you’ll like this.”

Gathering up my courage, I leaned over and mashed my lips against his. He gasped and then I realized he wasn’t kissing me back. Mortified, I pulled away, knowing he was ready to bolt in about five seconds if I didn’t do something. That meant moving to Plan C. There was only one problem. I didn’t have a Plan C.

“Finn, I’m…sorry,” I stammered. “I just couldn’t, uh, control myself.”

“What’s gotten into you?” he said, starting to sit up, but I pushed him back down on the bed with an elbow to his chest.

He looked really surprised now. Great, not only did he think I was a slut, he probably made me as the dominatrix type, as well. Jeez, wait ‘til he saw the handcuffs.

“It’s the…uh, close proximity to you,” I said breathily, pretty sure I was starting to hyperventilate. Sweat had started to trickle down my back. My shoulders ached from the uncomfortable position of half sitting, half lying across him and I thought I might sneeze.

“Or it could be the, uh, jet lag,” I stammered. Holy crap, I wasn’t making any sense whatsoever.

Think seduction,
I urged myself.
Be sexy, slinky and ooze sensuality.

I tried to shake my chest a bit, because I was pretty sure boobs turned on most men. But because I still had a death grip on the cuffs, all the shaking probably only made me appear spastic. God, Finn was looking at me like I was having a seizure.
Focus.
Slowly I lifted the cuffs until they were even with the bed. I just needed to grab his hand and cuff it. It would take all of two seconds, but timing was everything. I couldn’t afford to fumble, despite my injured wrist, because Finn was bigger, stronger and more agile than me. I’d have one chance, and one chance only, to snap them on right.

Finn’s eyes were so wide I thought they might pop out of his head. “You’re trying to seduce me?” he sputtered in disbelief. Instead of looking turned on, he seemed kind of freaked.

“Yes, I, ah, like your big muscles,” I stammered stupidly.
Shit.
Apparently I was the master of sexy conversation.
Not.

But for some unfathomable reason, my nervousness seemed to relax him. I got a big break when he folded his arms behind his head, just inches from the cuff.

“Well, now, lass, this doesn’t mean you’re going to start talking dirty now, are you?” he said with a smile.

I looked at him in horror. “Talk dirty? Me? Well…ah…okay, I can do that. Um, spank me hard, big daddy, then I’ll—”

Before I could finish, Finn slid a hand around the back of my neck and yanked me down hard against his mouth. He gave me a wickedly hot, electrifying, open-mouthed kiss. The room spun and I’m pretty sure I forgot to breathe. I might have even had a small heart attack. Yet a tiny part of my brain, probably the part living in fear that my life was on the fast-track to death, somehow remained detached.

Though my body was ready to get naked and do the horizontal tango, I realized I had just been presented with a golden opportunity. As Finn deepened the kiss, I slid the cuff across the pillow to where his other hand lay and snapped it on his wrist.

He stilled immediately and I guess it took him about three seconds to realize what I’d done. I used those precious seconds to tear my mouth from his and leap out of reach.

“What the bloody hell?” he yelled, sitting up and yanking on the handcuffs. To my enormous relief, they held magnificently. “Lexi, what is this about?”

“I’m sorry, Finn,” I said apologetically. “Really sorry. But I have to meet Basia. Alone.”

The look in his eyes was murderous. “Unhook me, lass.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Bugger it, Lexi. Let me go.”

My mouth still burned from his kiss. I’d never,
ever,
been kissed like that, and I was pretty sure I’d never experience such heat again. I had this wild urge to throw myself back in his arms and see just how kinky I could get with extra-long handcuffs. Who knew if I’d get another chance in this lifetime? He looked so damn sexy with mussed-up hair and that wild, dangerous Celtic look in his eyes. I wanted to give it a go.

Jeez, maybe I was a pervert.

He yanked again on the cuff and I held my breath that the bedpost would hold. It did.

“Ye don’t know what ye are doing,” he said, his Irish accent thick.

“On the contrary, I know exactly what I’m doing,” I said.

“Ye can’t do this alone. Ye need me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I need you or I need MI-6?”

It was just a second but I saw surprise and acknowledgement flash in his eyes. It was all I needed.

“I don’t know what ye are talking about.”

“Sure you do. Look, I don’t blame you for having your own agenda. I have mine.”

“Lexi, unhook me and I’ll explain everything.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry right now. I’m sure you understand. However, I’m not without heart. If I don’t come out of this alive, your cell phone and the key to the cuffs are over here on the dresser. Someone will find you eventually.”

He pulled on the cuffs again and swore at me in a steady stream of English and Gaelic. “Ye’re going to get yourself killed without me,” he warned.

I rolled my eyes to the heavens. “That seems to be the consensus going around these days. Guess what? Bugger
that!
I’m not a helpless idiot. It’s really starting to piss me off.”

“Lexi,” he growled. “Don’t be foolish. This is bigger than you can imagine.”

“I can imagine pretty big. For a girl, that is.” I smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry about me,
Agent
Shaughnessy, I can take care of myself. Oh, and I guess I should also tell you that I happened to mention to our punk convention floormates that we might be having wild, kinky sex in here with said handcuffs. Yelling or screaming isn’t going to help.”

“Don’t do this, lass.”

I shoved some money into my tote bag along with a map, a sweatshirt and a baseball cap. Then I carefully put the sling back on my arm because my wrist was killing me again after all the excitement.

“Lexi, you don’t have to go this alone.”

“Yes, I do. I’m sorry it had to end this way between us, Finn, because I had really started to like you. Who knows? The world is a crazy place. Maybe our paths will cross again some day.” I permitted myself a sad smile.

He yanked on the handcuffs again to no avail. “That will be unlikely if you’re dead.”

“Then let’s hope a little of your Irish luck rubbed off on me. Goodbye, Finn.”

As I left the room and carefully locked up, I heard him swearing after me in Gaelic.

It was a quarter past ten by the time I exited the hotel. The sun was still shining, the birds singing. It was weird, but in the summer in Sweden, I guess the sun never really sets. I don’t know how people got used to it. Still, it played in my favor since I was able to see my surroundings more clearly.

As expected, I quickly spotted a surveillance team just outside the hotel. A bald man sat on a bench across from the hotel entrance reading a newspaper, and a thin, blonde woman was sipping coffee at a café a few meters away. I knew they were together because the moment I exited the hotel, the man gave me a startled glance and then hastily looked over at the blonde. They both seemed pretty shocked to see me, so I guess Finn had informed them that we’d be in for the night. The element of surprise definitely worked for me because I sincerely doubted they would have so obviously given themselves away without it.

I strolled down the sidewalk, pretending I didn’t notice them following me. I kept track of them by monitoring their reflections in the store windows. They followed me at a careful distance, one on each side of the street. They didn’t seem to be taking too many precautions to hide themselves, which likely meant they thought I hadn’t spotted them. Why should they suspect I had? I’m a twenty-five-year-old computer desk jockey, never trained as an agent, who’d been abroad only once before in her entire life. Let them think I was clueless—it would make my job a lot easier. Right now my job was temporarily eluding them so I could have a minute or two alone with Basia before the party started. I definitely didn’t want our little gathering to start until all parties were present. That made timing the trickiest part of the plan.

As I continued down the sidewalk, I noticed a young couple in front of me. The woman whispered something to the man and he scooped her into a hug, laughing. It seemed innocent until he glanced over at me. For the briefest of seconds, we made eye contact and I turned away, my heart racing.

Shit!
They had put another team on me. I don’t know how I knew for sure, but I just did. My gut had made them, and I’m a big believer in gut instinct. So that made four agents tailing me, two more than I expected. That threw me for a serious loop because I hadn’t expected to be so well covered. I probably had Finn to thank for that.

Panic swelled in my throat. Now I wasn’t sure I could pull this off. Ditching one surveillance team would be hard enough, but there was no way in hell I’d be able to shake both teams.

Think, Carmichael, think.

I walked ahead blindly, not noticing that someone had come up quickly behind me until he threw an arm of iron around my shoulders and squeezed hard.

“Keep walking,” he said in a low voice before I could say a word. “You have two teams of two watching you. Whatever you do, don’t scream or act frightened. I’m an unexpected variable so they won’t make a move unless I appear to threaten you. My best guess is that we’ve got about three, possibly five, minutes before they move.”

My mouth gaped open in shock, but I managed to keep walking. “Elvis! What in the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving your hide.”

“What?” I hissed. “Are you nuts? What happened to Rule #1—Absolutely,
Positively
No Deviating From the Plan?”

“Look who’s talking, Ms. Queen of Deviation,” he hissed back. “Where’s Finn Shaughnessy?”

“Handcuffed to a bed.”

“What?” he practically screeched. “You were using handcuffs?”

“Jeez, Elvis, it’s not what you think. I mean, it’s not about sex.” I remembered the kiss. “Um, not exactly. Anyway, I handled him just fine.”

“I’m not worried about him. What happened to your arm?”

“It’s my wrist and a three-hundred-pound thug fell on it. Don’t worry, I handled him, too. Sort of.”

“We have to abort the plan. There have been some new developments.”

I glanced in a shop window as we passed and I saw the blonde woman talking frantically on a cell phone. The young couple was whispering to each other and neither looked happy. The bald man was nowhere in sight. Apparently Elvis’s unexpected appearance had freaked them out and now they were all trying to figure out what they were supposed to do next.

“We can’t abort,” I said. “We’re too close.”

“We have to. Samir Al-Naddi is putting a wrench in our plan.”

“Al-Naddi the Yemeni terrorist? What does he have to do with this?”

“A Yemeni businessman was murdered last night in Munich, Germany. All his ID, including his passport and credentials, were stolen. Someone used his passport to enter Sweden this afternoon. I got a tip from a friend at the NSA who says the hit on the businessman smelled to high heaven of Al-Naddi’s work. But here’s the kicker: the U.S. thinks it’s Al-Naddi himself here in Sweden, masquerading as the businessman.”

“Here?” My mind raced furiously. “Slash said the CIA suspected that Al-Naddi had something to do with the murder of Al-Asan’s bodyguards in Genoa, but we couldn’t finger the connection. Now it looks like Al-Naddi could just be another player at the table.”

Elvis’s expression was grim. “He’s not just another player, Lexi. He is
the
player.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve discovered his connection to all of this. He’s interested in Judyta Taszynski because she is carrying
his
clone.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, despite Elvis’s direction to keep walking. My blood turned to ice. “What did you say?”

“Keep walking,” Elvis urged and pulled me along by the arm. “Look, once I was in Bouker’s computer, I decided to do a little browsing around. Slash’s connections in the CIA were right. Al-Asan’s bodyguards were hit by followers of Al-Naddi.”

“But why? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. They stole Al-Asan’s DNA and replaced it with Al-Naddi’s.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth, my thoughts racing. Pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “Oh, my God,” I breathed. “The terrorists hijacked Al-Asan’s DNA
before
the cloning procedure took place. Then they somehow delivered it to the doctors at Bright Horizons without letting on that anything had happened.”

“They must have used look-alikes of the men who were killed.”

“Which would explain why the bodies of the men were hidden for a short time and then laid out again to be found,” I said. “Slash said the Italian medical examiner couldn’t figure out the anomaly. Their bodies couldn’t be discovered
before
the delivery had been made. It also means the doctors unwittingly implanted Al-Naddi’s clones into the women without anyone knowing.”

“Everyone except Al-Naddi and his followers.”

“But who’s killing the girls?”

“Yemeni intelligence. They’ve been making sure that no clone of Al-Naddi’s exists. President Al-Fulani of Yemen is an archenemy of Al-Naddi. It’s no secret. He’s made it his number one goal to eradicate the man and his terrorist operation from Yemen soil.”

“But the girls didn’t know they were carrying Al-Naddi’s clone,” I protested. “Why kill them?”

“To ensure that none of them carried to term.”

I swallowed the nausea that rose in my throat. “Except Judyta is still alive and pregnant. Oh, man, this is seriously bad.” I glanced in a shop window and realized I’d been so distracted I had lost the location of all the members of the surveillance teams.

“So, you can see why it’s too risky to continue,” Elvis said. “It’s one thing to bring together members of different governments. It’s something entirely different to add a terrorist to the mix. Especially one as volatile as Al-Naddi.”

“How do you think he found out about the rendezvous?” I asked anxiously.

“Possibly a sympathizer in the Yemeni Embassy. But I have an even more ominous supposition.”

“Which is?” I asked, not certain I wanted to know.

“It’s possible the U.S. government or even Vatican intelligence tipped Al-Naddi off to your whereabouts on purpose.”

“A set-up for Al-Naddi,” I breathed. “Here. Basia and I are the bait.”

“As noble as it may seem to you, being bait for a terrorist, we can’t possibly continue. Al-Naddi could blow us all to kingdom come.”

My thoughts were spinning. I took several deep breaths and then stopped, clutching Elvis’s arm.

“No,” I said, trying to organize my thoughts. “Al-Naddi wouldn’t hurt me or Basia. We’re the only ones who can lead him to Judyta.”

“He might not kill you, but he could capture and then torture you until you coughed up the information.”

I winced. “Okay, good point. Especially since torture is
not
on my list of things to experience in this lifetime. Certainly Al-Naddi should be considered unstable and dangerous. Normal rules of conduct don’t apply to him. But what would happen if we abort the plan? Al-Naddi disappears and regroups for another day. Judyta and Basia have to remain in hiding because they will still be hunted by Yemeni intelligence, the U.S. government, MI-6, Vatican intelligence and Al-Naddi’s followers, although for radically different reasons. My life and that of everyone connected to me in this matter remains at risk. I could get picked off at any time just for knowing too much. No thanks. I’d rather not be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life wondering when and from whom I’m going to buy it. I want to finish it now.”

Elvis looked really worried. “Lexi, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Me, too. But think about it. You know I’m right. Aborting the plan at this stage carries its risks, too. If Al-Naddi is here, he might get lucky and locate Judyta and Basia even without us. Look, we could do this and still stay in control. I just need a few minutes with Basia alone to clue her in to what’s going on.”

Elvis didn’t appear convinced. “There are so many chances for things to go wrong.”

“I know. But we’ve also got everyone in place. I’ve got to trust that the U.S. has enough invested in this to protect Basia and me. I’m going ahead with the plan. Are you in?”

He exhaled loudly. “You’ll have to lose both surveillance teams.”

“I think I already have. Do you know where they are?”

He pulled me into a hug and put his head close to mine, like we were conversing intimately. “Talk to me,” he ordered, scanning the street over my shoulder. “Make it look like we’re having a heartfelt discussion.”

“We
are
having a heartfelt discussion.”

“Well, keep talking in a heartfelt way then.”

“I’m too nervous. Want me to recite the periodic table?”

“You sure know how to turn a guy on.”

The quip surprised me because I never imagined Elvis as a guy who could be turned on. I don’t know, I guess I just pegged him as a genius too elevated to bother with everyday things like dating, social skills and sex. Maybe I was wrong.

“Okay, let’s see,” I murmured. “Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine—”

“Found them,” Elvis interrupted. “As far as I can tell, we’re still being watched by two teams. They’ve apparently been told to hold position. I bet they want to figure out who I am and what you’re going to do now.”

“Good question. What
am
I going to do now?”

“You know the tram schedule to Djurgarden Island?”

“Yes. Every fifteen minutes on the hour.”

He glanced down at his watch. “We’ve got five minutes. Let’s do it.”

“Do what?”

“The new plan.”

“You’ve figured it out already?”

“That’s why I get paid the big bucks. Thinking on the fly does have its advantages.”

“I’m officially impressed.”

“Good to know.”

He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine, soft, tender and totally unexpected. My heart gave a little jump. I had no earthly idea what was going on. Three kisses in the past forty-eight hours with three extremely different guys. That was definitely a record for me. In fact, it would probably stand as a lifetime record, seeing how I might not live much longer. It was fascinating data and the analytical part of my brain wanted to examine each one. But now wasn’t the time to try and figure out what it all meant. Besides, Elvis had already begun to move again and I had to hustle a couple of steps to keep up.

“Listen carefully,” he said and quickly outlined his plan.

It was astoundingly simple, which meant it had a fair-to-decent chance of working since I was the one who had to put it into play.

Nonetheless, as we headed for the tram stop my heart was thundering so hard in my chest, I thought I might have a heart attack. Sweat oozed down my back and I was glad I wasn’t holding hands with Elvis because my palms were slick with moisture. I wasn’t cut out for this secret agent stuff.

I glanced in a window and saw our teams were again in place and that they trailed along behind us now, no longer bothering to act discreet.

“They know we’ve made them,” I observed.

“Yes,” Elvis agreed. “But it doesn’t change anything.”

“Guess not.” Then trying to lighten the mood, I said, “Did I mention I like the fedora? Kind of reminds me of Indiana Jones. But what’s with the trench coat?”

He smiled, likely just to put me at ease. I noticed his brown hair was squished flat under the hat and his glasses were slightly askew. He looked pale and exhausted and I realized he must have flown all night and then hightailed it to the hotel to save me.

“Always wanted to play secret agent,” he said lightly. “In my opinion, no better way to do it than in a black trench coat.”

I smiled back. “
The Matrix
fantasy. Yeah, I get it. It’s ace. No,
you’re
ace.”

“Sure, that’s me,” Elvis said, grinning, and then glanced again at his watch. “Tram is late.”

“Maybe your watch is fast.”

“Maybe.”

Just as he said that, I saw the tram come into sight down the street. There were three passengers waiting at the stop—two young women and a kid about six years old.

“Good luck,” Elvis whispered.

“You, too,” I said.