Page 43 of Deadly Alliance

Chapter Seventeen

So,this is what it felt like to watch two fierce warriors meet for the first time. Mohammed Ali and George Foreman, or The Queen of England and the President of the United States. Roz and Beatrice observed each other as leaders of hugely successful secret female assassin groups.

Roz was a fair bit younger than Beatrice but no less intimidating. Emme felt the breath she had been holding whoosh out when Purgatory’s founder smiled and shook hand with Zenobi’s leader.

“Good to see you, Bea. It’s been a long time,” Roz said as they moved towards the large bedroom suite that was now a cross between what she imagined the back room at London fashion week combined with an army surplus store would look like.

“Ten years, if I’m not mistaken.” Beatrice smiled serenely. “Good to see you got your head out your ass and married that gorgeous man that was so head over tea-kettle for you.”

Roz stopped and glared at Bea before shrugging her shoulders. “I was going to ask how you knew but it seems everyone did except me.”

“It’s difficult for women like us to accept the love of a good man, but oh, when we do.” Bea had a soft look on her face that Emme hadn’t seen before.

“How is Admiral Handsome?” Roz asked as the two women sat on opposite couches.

“He’s absolutely perfect. Well, as perfect as a man can be,” Beatrice amended with a wink.

“Good. And he has no idea what’s going on?”

“Well, he will now. He landed at Heathrow about three hours ago, so he should be catching up with Shane about now. It seems that my plan to keep him out of this backfired.” The older woman rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Ouch,” Roz winced.

“I take it Shane is about to get his ass chewed,” Emme asked as she picked up a short, black halter-neck dress with no back that came to her mid-thigh.

“Probably,” Bea laughed. “Scratch that. He will.”

The door opened, and Lucy and Dee walked in followed by two women. Roz and Beatrice turned their heads, and Emme smiled.

Pax and Bebe laughed at something Dee said but stopped chatting when they saw Beatrice and looked to Roz. Tension spiked as Beatrice stood with Roz.

“What is she doing here?” Bebe asked, her tone cold and calculating.

“Bea,” Roz said with emphasis on her name, “is here at my invitation and you will show some respect,” Roz bit out coldly. The two women locked eyes and for a second Emme thought Bebe would walk, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

“Cool.”

“If you will all take a seat I’ll explain the mission to you.”

Bebe came over and slung an arm around Emme’s shoulder. “Hey, short stuff, how’s tricks?”

“Hey, Bebe. I’m good thanks. You?”

“Meh, you know. Now, I hear you’re shacked up undercover with a hunk of American meat.”

Emme felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. But she didn’t back down. “You hear correctly.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet the man who makes my little Padawan blush.”

“Ladies, let’s cut the chat, we have a mission to plan and a short time to plan it.” Roz spent the next several minutes explaining the mission so far and what was expected from them. “The main objective tonight is to keep Bea and Emme safe while allowing the perp close enough for us to identify him. Will is going to have access to all the live feeds and will be assessing the faces coming in and out of the building using the new facial recognition software we have. All exits and entrances will have a man with a line of sight at all times, and there will be one of us within a two-metre radius of them at all times.”

“This is to look like a girl’s night out, so we need to make it look real. I know my girls all have plenty of experience, same with Lucy. I know Dee’s reputation, so that’s a given, but Emme does not. Under no circumstances are she or Bea allowed out of sight. If the target approaches, or anyone you think may be the target approaches, you must alert us using the code word ‘Mango Tequila’

“Back-up will be with you immediately. If you think something is going south and it’s an emergency, then use the normal protocol and get out and get to the safe-house and await further instructions.

“Zack will be watching from outside with Will. You all have your own toys, but I do have a few new ones for the occasion,” Roz said with a smile as Bebe and Pax shrieked with joy.

Lucy gestured for Dee to follow her. Emme smiled as she joined the group. “Oh yeah.”