"I know who I'm dealing with, darling. I have plenty of backup. But I can't concentrate on the task at hand if you're there." James tilted her head up, searching her face. "What else?" Her eyes dropped from his. "Tell me."
"Was it necessary? All the deaths? If you're throwing around money like this, couldn't some of those people have survived with a bribe or imprisoned?" Maura asked, her memory of the blood-soaked presidential carpet making her sound harsher than she meant.
Her tone triggered his, and James raised one haughty brow. "You're questioning my decisions?"
"Surely not every one of those, what- 215 people had to die? Some of those were machete attacks, James!"
He stepped away to pull on the jacket to his suit. "Ah, darling. I'm back to being the monster again? Do you think General Nezzar would be more sparing, more merciful?"
Maura irritably shook her head, "That's the point! We're supposed to be better than Nezzar!"
She watched with dismay as the polar chill lightened his blue gaze. James said, "I'm a bloody criminal, do you recall?" He stepped closer, looming over her. "And now, so are you."
Sighing, Maura ran a distracted hand through her curls. "James-"
"I'll be back," he interrupted her, "stay inside with security."
As the door shut, all she could think was, What if I never see him again?
***
The hour dragged on; Maura watched the news reports until she couldn't stand it anymore. The downloads on her platinum flash drives signaled completion, and she pulled the drives. Looking around the room, she thought back to an operative lesson about hiding contraband. "Not under the bed, nor hidden in trash cans, under the carpet..." she looked around, thinking out loud. Her eyes fell on the dressing area. She pulled one of the light switch boxes, unscrewing the plate with her fingernail. Sliding the thumb drives inside, she was careful not to touch the wires.
She replaced the plate and pushed the screw back in. Biting her lip, she checked her iPhone for the fifteenth time in the last hour. She didn't dare text or call him, in case it alerted someone else. Finally swallowing her pride, she walked into the living room, where the four guards left behind were watching an episode of "Big Brother" dubbed in Arabic. "Have any of you..." They looked up at her blankly. "Have any of you heard from Mr. Pine yet?"
"That would be 'need to know,’ Mrs. Pine," snarked one.
Another one looked at him, irritated, then back to her. "Nothing yet on our side."
"Thank you," she nodded politely, heading back into the bedroom to pace again.
It was less than thirty minutes later when she heard the thunderous pounding on the suite door. Racing into the living room, she found O'Connell and Holbrook, red-faced and obviously shaken. "Where's James?" she cried.
O'Connell growled, "THEY TOOK HIM. FUCKING KINGSTON SIDED WITH THAT LOONEY BASTARD FASSELL."
She gasped. "Where? Where did they take him?"
He shook his head furiously, "DON'T KNOW. HE JUST GOT A CALL INTO ME BEFORE THEY TOOK HIM. THEY SHOT HIS SECURITY TEAM."
"No, no, no!" she moaned, "We have to find him!"
Nicholas was updating Maura's guard and telling them to get ready to move out as O'Connell took her arm and led her into the bedroom. "NOT COMPLETELY- ah, not completely helpless, lass. I've packed both heels on his shoes with C2. He's walking on enough plastique to take out a building.” He pulled a gun from his waistband, checked to make sure there was a bullet chambered, and handed it to her. “Now, our job WAS TO GET YOU- ah, get you out of here in case this happened. We need to go, lass. NOW."
She nodded, yanking on her running shoes and looking at the light switch. Would the precious thumb drives be safer there for the time being or with her? Shaking her head, Maura rapidly dismantled the coding and financial grids on her laptop. "Nicholas!” she called over her shoulder, "Hurry, get your platform shut down so we can-"
The voice behind her was horridly, greasily aroused. "Too late, baby. Too late for that." Maura and O'Connell both drew their guns at the same time, but it was all in vain. "Drop them, or I shoot you both." Simon Fassell blocked the doorway to the living room, holding a huge gun with a silencer. Two men stepped in from the terrace, training their weapons on O'Connell's back.
Maura's eyes met O'Connell's before nodding and set her gun down. The huge Irishman sighed and did the same. Two of Fassell’s men gripped her arms, pulling her away from him. "Good, good!" Fassell said happily. Pointing his gun at the furious ginger, he asked sharply, "Did you fuck MacLaren, too?"
"WHA-? YA DAFT PRICK!" roared O'Connell, "YA BLOODY-" He was brutally cut off as Fassell sighed irritably and fired two slugs into O'Connell's chest.
"NO!" howled Maura, trying to break free from the men holding her. "You bastard! You murderous fuck!"
He chuckled fondly. "Oh, baby, I can still remember the first time you called me that. You know, when I slit your little undercover buddy's throat?" Maura was still struggling against the men, trying to kick Fassell, hurt him somehow. "Now, now, kitten," he admonished, “let's not lose our temper. We've got to get going, we have people to meet! If you're lucky, there'll be enough left of Pine to watch me fuck you before he bleeds out."
It took three of the men to drag the furious, spitting, kicking harpy back onto the bed. She looked up to see Nicholas huddled in the doorway. "Motherfucker," she hissed, "I swear to God I will gut your treacherous, lying, useless hide!" He flushed and slunk back into the living room.
"Aw, baby," crooned Fassell, that manic grin back on his face, "don't you know I'll always be two steps ahead?"
