Griffin glanced back. Lana had vanished. The costumes on the rack swayed like they’d swallowed her. Hopefully she knew about the ladder down to the tunnel. Did these guys? The longer Griffin could stall them, the better chance she had to get clear. But where were their two friends?
“Why do you want her?” Griffin said.
“Can’t tell you that. Client confidentiality.”
“You don’t look much like lawyers.” More like private security—bodyguards or something. “You’re telling me you came here at this time of night, dressed like juiced-up carjackers, for a ‘chat’?”
“Believe me, sir, you don’t want to defend this woman. You would not approve of what she’s doing.”
Sir?What were they—ex-cops? Ex-military? If they were professionals, they wouldn’t want the attention—or liability—of messing with someone as high profile as Griffin. “And what is it she’s doing?”
“We can’t say, all right?”
“No, it’s not all right. What’s her name—this woman you’re after?” It couldn’t be Lana, surely—but maybe her sister?
“Again, can’t say.”
“Whatever you’re doing, you just got in way deeper than you bargained for. I suggest you leave. Security will be here any second.” Not that set security would be a match for these guys. They were efficient enough in ejecting a pap or stalker, but not commandos.
The goons glanced at each other. “No, they won’t be,” the man said.
Griffin’s veins flushed cold. “What did you do to the guards?”
“Nothing they’ll remember once they wake up. Sir, this has nothing to do with you. We’re not here to cause trouble.”
“Feels a lot like trouble to me.” And now hesoundedlike his character fromThe Thunder Protocol.
“We’re not the bad guys here, okay? She won’t be harmed. No need for you to get involved.”
“I’m already involved. If the woman you’re after is Vivien Fleming, she’s not here.”
“That’s not the information we have.”
“Your information is wrong.” So theywereafter Vivien—but why now?
“Either way, she’ll be released, and she’ll be fine.”
The gunslinger’s walkie-talkie buzzed. A man’s voice, crackly and cutting out. “We’ve got her.”
Shit. Griffin spun and flung the costumes aside. No Lana. The safety door that led to the ladder was ajar.
“Take her out to the cars,” the gunslinger ordered.
“You’ve got the wrong woman,” Griffin said. “That’s not Vivien.”
The guy eyeballed Griffin as he spoke into the walkie-talkie. “Go without us—we’ll catch up.”
The woman stepped closer, hand hovering over her hip.
“We both know you’re not going to shoot me,” Griffin said with more confidence than he felt. “Hard to explain that to your client.”
“Probably not.” She released the weapon from her holster. “But I am prepared to tase you if it comes to that.”
Griffin glanced at the gunslinger’s holster. Also a Taser—which could incapacitate Griffin long enough for them to leave with Lana. He’d used a Taser inShadow Cop—and his character inYou Only Die Twicehad been tased. He’d talked the weapons instructor into tasing him for real so he knew how to act the scene. Not an experience he wanted to repeat.
“That’s the thing,” came the crackly reply. “We’re kinda … lost.”
“You’re shitting me,” the gunslinger said. “Lost?”
