Gabby handed the cell to him, her face a mask of disgust. “She’s the madam. She runs the chateau. She runs it for him. I think she is his lover.”
Ben felt his gut take a deep dive. She wouldn’t. Deanna had been many things but cruel wasn’t one of them. She’d been ambitious and naïve, but she…wouldn’t. She wouldn’t hurt anyone, much less innocent girls. This was a trick. He had to prove it. This was one more way to fuck with his head. If Deanna was alive, would Kenzie even believe him that he didn’t know?
This was how he would put a wall between him and Kenz. And her team. Manny wanted him alone and vulnerable, and that was when he would strike.
He could fix this. He needed that laptop. Whatever was on it Tim could prove it was false. And maybe this would be exactly what they needed to prove several of Manny’s crimes. This was a mistake on his part. Manny was so fucking arrogant.
He was halfway to the lobby when Lou ran up next to him.
“Hey, I heard something’s going on. Gabby said you need Tim to verify some file for you.” Lou had her laptop in hand. “I was going up to Kala’s room to grab some clothes since the test went a little too well. It’s okay. I adjusted and it should work now, but she told me the nanites bit her and she doesn’t trust them. I tried to explain that was impossible. Ben, where are you going?”
He strode out the door, hoping no one had taken his access code to get back in. He had to risk it because he knew something bad would happen if he didn’t get to that laptop.
He would take it and let Lou and Tim go over it with a fine-tooth comb. He was halfway down the block when he realized Lou had followed him.
“Ben, you’re not supposed to be walking around London alone.” Lou had left her laptop behind and jogged to catch up to him. “You need to take someone with you. Like Coop or TJ.”
Damn it, now he had to worry about Lou because neither of those people were around this morning, so he had to do this alone. “Get back in The Garden.”
His time was running out. There was another text, but he ignored it. He was certain it was another of Manny’s countdowns. He loved to put Ben on a timer and watch him run himself ragged, but this time Ben would find a way to make him pay.
“You can’t be out here alone. What’s going on?” Lou was surprisingly fast. He had a good foot on her and she was matching him.
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. It was a spectacularly sunny day in a city that didn’t have a lot of those. There were people everywhere. Tourists and people going to work and running errands. They were in one of the biggest cities in the world with an excellent CCTV network. Lou was brilliant, and why was he freaking out? Noteven Manny would be able to pull off a kidnapping in the middle of a London street. But his time was ticking down. He turned the cell to her, offering her the picture. “I need you to prove that’s a fake.”
Her eyes went wide as she studied the photo, moving out of the way as a group of schoolkids ambled by, their harried teachers trying to keep them together. “This looks like…”
“Deanna. Yes. My dead fiancée. According to Gabby, she’s also the woman who tortured and trained them. Which I find highly suspect since that woman had never fired a gun. But it’s fake because she’s dead.”
Lou bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I need to run it through a couple of programs.”
“Good. You can do it when I get back.” He turned and started walking. “He left a laptop for me at the café up ahead. I’ll get it and be back soon.”
“You can’t simply pick it up and run with it,” Lou insisted, her boots sounding against the pavement. “You have no idea what’s on it. It could have a locator or hell, it could have a detonator.”
He knew she was speaking truth, but it didn’t matter. His brain was concentrating on one thing—his mission. He had to get that laptop. It was all that mattered now. He would take it somewhere else. He would get a hotel room or…he could take it straight to MI6.
Yes. That was what he would do. That would please both his need to have all the evidence he could gather and Kenzie. He found himself nodding even as he took back his cell and started jogging toward the café. “Call Big Tag and tell him I’ll come in. He’s at headquarters right now.”
She kept up with him again. This time full-out running beside him. “I’m pretty sure Kenz is doing that right now, and Kala will likely come after us.”
Then he better get moving. “She needs to stay inside the club. You need to stay inside the club. Damn it, Lou, you would be a valuable hostage. I don’t know if you know this but you’re quite smart, and he’s talked about forcing you to work for him before.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” Lou insisted with sheer determination.
Up ahead he saw the café. It was normal. People walked in and out. The dining room looked to be bustling. “What do you think you’llbe able to do, Lou? We’re not going to test the laptop in there,” he said, approaching the door. “I’ll grab it and we can test it later.”
Did she think he was an idiot? That he was going to sit down and order a latte and wait for Manny to pull something shady?
He was an idiot. This was stupid, but he couldn’t stop it now. He had to know.
“Yes, we are. I can at least tell if it’s going to explode.” She said the words loudly and then winced. “This is not smart. We should call the authorities in.”
No way. That would lead to terrible outcomes. No one could predict what Manny would do if his will wasn’t done. He only knew it would be horrible and it would likely happen to someone he cared about.
It would happen to her.
He was well aware his heart rate was high. Adrenaline pumped through his system as he looked around the small café. There was no hostess station. This was a place to get pastries and coffee and sandwiches for lunch. The seating was first come, first serve.
