“What about Henry Shevfield and his attack on Malichai? All the people he killed had something to do with the convention center. And this big diversion he’s supposed to run, we didn’t get the exact timing of that.” Mordichai didn’t look at Ezekiel when he pointed that out.
“Joe contacted Major General,” Ezekiel said. “Joe said to keep Shevfield’s death under wraps for the moment and then the body will turn up. Rubin will go undercover as a suspected hit man. He’ll be questioned and released and then set up at the bed-and-breakfast. We’ll hope he gets contacted. They won’t have a lot of time to choose who they’re going to use to create their diversion and he’ll already be in place.”
Malichai knew that wasn’t Major General’s idea. Ezekiel had already told Malichai that was the plan. He must have informed Joe and Joe sold the plan to Major General.
“How much have you let the detectives in on?” Malichai asked.
“Not much yet. We didn’t have a lot to give them. Nothing on who murdered Anna and Bryon Cooper. It wasn’t Shevfield. Looking at his work, he had to be telling the truth. If he had created that scenario, there would have been nothing for the detectives to question. As it was, they had Bryon shooting himself with the wrong gun hand,” Ezekiel said.
“When is the rest of the team arriving?” Malichai asked.
“They’re on the way. The potential for this is big and we’re only leaving a skeleton crew behind to protect Pepper and the kids, although a few of the other teams are offering to cover for us,” Ezekiel continued.
“I’d like to have a couple of our people staying at Marie’s,” Malichai said. “Unfortunately, it isn’t as if we can boot anyone from their room. I can double up with Amaryllis, which leaves my room free.”
“I thought we could take this to Marie, see if she’d let us get Jacy to safety, maybe even her. In the meantime, she might be able to get creative. There’re two rooms she doesn’t use for guests because they don’t have bathrooms that even are shared. She was planning on adding them but hasn’t had the time. There’s the attic room, hot as hell, and there’s the basement,” Ezekiel said. “I’ve looked at the blueprints. We can get some of our people inside the basement for certain and the two rooms without shared bathrooms. They’ll have to use Amaryllis’s private one. If we get the cops to release the Coopers’ room, that will be another room we’ll have available.”
Malichai didn’t doubt that everything Ezekiel said was there. The bed-and-breakfast was enormous. At one time it had been a small apartment building. Then it had been renovated to look on the outside like an old Victorian mansion. The owner had poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, making it into a vacation home for him and his extended family. He had been the one to create suites for his married children and their families. Marie and her husband had envisioned the bed-and-breakfast when it came up for sale.
“That’s good, then. I don’t like the idea of talking to Marie and Amaryllis at the inn. The only possible conclusion I can reach for Billy Leven to be in that room at that time in the morning was to plant a listening device. I planned on going with Amaryllis when she does the final walk-through to ensure the room is perfect. I can check for devices at that time. If we find one, we’re going to have to find a way to inspect each of the other rooms.”
“You’re right, Malichai. But Billy Leven? What would he have to do with those in the magic shop? I’m certain those people are tied to this plot, but Leven? Where would he fit in?” Ezekiel asked.
“Money? People do all kinds of things for money,” Mordichai said.
“It wouldn’t make sense to contact someone in North Carolina. They would contact someone here in San Diego,” Malichai pointed out. “Like they did with Shevfield.”
Ezekiel shrugged. “We can speculate until the cows come home, but that doesn’t mean we’ll know what’s going on. Malichai, you’ll need to arrange it so we can talk with Marie and see if we can get some of the team members into the bed-and-breakfast. I’d particularly like to have Draden and Shylah stationed there. Shylah is lethal. She looks sweet, like the girl next door, but she will take you down so fast your head will spin. I’d also like Trap and Cayenne to be here as well.”
“Is Trap allowing Cayenne to come? She’s pretty pregnant, isn’t she?” Mordichai asked.
Malichai snorted his derision. “I really fear for you, Mordichai. A woman is either pregnant or she isn’t. She isn’t more pregnant or less pregnant. Or ‘pretty pregnant.’”
Mordichai flipped him off. “With Cayenne, who knows? She might be more or less.”
“I have no idea when that woman got pregnant, so I don’t have a clue how far along she is, and Trap isn’t saying,” Ezekiel said. “She doesn’t look pregnant, but then Cayenne is built differently. I was surprised that Joe gave the okay for her to come on this one, especially since it involves being around the public so much.”
“Cayenne definitely isn’t comfortable being around people,” Malichai said.
“I’m not either,” Rubin said unexpectedly, as if he was defending Cayenne.
Malichai looked at him. There was no expression on Rubin’s face, but he was uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, that much was coming off of him in waves.
“Cayenne is very much loved, Rubin,” he assured as gently as possible. “She’s different, yes, but she’s a part of our team and a part of us. She loves Trap and makes his life a thousand times better. The thing is, as lethal as she is, as extraordinary, she still needs protection during times like this. Just as we do when we’re wounded or laid up. I’m shocked that not only Joe allowed her to travel but that Trap did. And I mean really shocked.” And he was. Cayenne might not be showing because she was built differently, but she had to be pretty far along.
He had no idea where Rubin’s sudden protective streak of Cayenne was coming from, but that well of darkness that sometimes shrouded both Rubin and Diego had settled over Rubin’s shoulders like a cloak. He looked at Ezekiel. His older brother had taken Rubin and Diego under his wing when he’d found them living on the streets.
The brothers were from a very poor part of the Appalachian Mountains and as teens they’d made their way to the city, where the streets had threatened to swallow them. Ezekiel had protected them, and taught them how to live on the streets. They’d stayed with Ezekiel, Malichai and Mordichai, following them into the service.
“The bottom line is, Trap is here, Cayenne will be,” Ezekiel said.
Rubin nodded. “Cayenne is not only dedicated completely to Trap, she is to our team.”
That much was true. “And Nonny,” Malichai said, hoping to lighten the mood. “Who wouldn’t be dedicated to Nonny? I can’t wait to get Amaryllis back to Louisiana and have her meet everyone there. Speaking of, do you think Zara will be coming with Gino?”
Ezekiel coughed behind his hand. “Yeah, that’s not likely. Danger here means Zara is stashed somewhere safe. Gino doesn’t like it if she stubs her toe. She’s on some killer research project at the moment, and from what I understand, doesn’t want to stop while the team is here. That’s causing a bit of a controversy. She never goes against Gino. And I mean never. He wants her to do something, she just smiles that sweet smile of hers and does it.”
He sounded so wistful, Malichai burst out laughing. “Is my sweet sister-in-law giving you trouble again, Zeke?” There was a taunting note in his voice he knew shouldn’t be there because Amaryllis was going to give him nothing but trouble, but having little petite Bellisia stand up to the force that was Ezekiel made for great fun.
“I’m not certain Bellisia knows the word ‘yes,’ Malichai,” Ezekiel said mournfully. “I’ve made a subliminal tape and play it for her at night, but so far it hasn’t done any good.”
Even Rubin laughed at that and Malichai realized his brother had deliberately turned the conversation into something that allowed them to laugh at
Ezekiel. Zeke would do that for any of them. Bellisia was so tiny and yet she was a warrior through and through. Tough. Tenacious. Deadly.
Zara was sweet, gentle, kind and compassionate. She had been tortured and had never given up the GhostWalkers, but her feet had been damaged beyond the capabilities of any of the doctors to fix them. She could walk, but it was slow and careful most of the time. She was a strong woman and loyal to all of them. She would fight for them and with them if need be, but it was her brain that was her greatest gift. She was one of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence, something the government was very much interested in.
“What in the world did Gino do when his sweet, accommodating woman defied him and said she wanted to continue working instead of pulling back to the main house with the others?” Malichai asked, curious. He couldn’t imagine doing anything if Amaryllis defied him. What could a man do? A woman had the right to make up her own mind—except that Gino didn’t always think in modern terms.
“I don’t know, but before we left, he was bringing her to the Fontenot home,” Ezekiel said. “She doesn’t talk to Bellisia about her marriage to Gino. Bellisia had been so opposed to the match that I think Zara’s afraid if she tells her anything negative, it would be a betrayal of Gino. And before you ask, Bellisia tells me if I’m being a caveman, and then she announces it to the rest of you. She could use a little more of Zara’s silence on marital matters.”
Malichai laughed with the others. “I don’t think you being a caveman is a marital matter, Zeke. We’re used to it, but poor Bellisia thinks the sun rises and sets with you. It’s probably a shocker every time you act like the Neanderthal we know you to be.”
“I wish I had a club right now,” Ezekiel murmured. “Get back to the bed-and-breakfast and set something up so I can talk with Marie as soon as possible.”
Malichai nodded and got up to leave. The moment he did, the pressure he hadn’t even noticed in his chest eased. The knots in his guts unraveled just a little bit. He hadn’t realized he was uneasy being away from Amaryllis. He wanted to put it down to his being concerned that unknown danger lurked at the B and B, but he knew better than to try to deceive himself. It was Amaryllis. He just plain didn’t like being away from her. He was going to be one of those men.
He knew better than to look too eager as he left the house Ezekiel was renting. He’d never live it down if his brothers and teammates discovered he was forever wrapped around Amaryllis’s little finger and would do anything for her, not after all the crap he’d given them—especially Zeke. He forced himself to saunter out into the bright sun. He shoved his dark glasses on his nose and picked up the pace, striding down the long sidewalk across the street from the ocean side.
Ezekiel had been lucky enough—or someone high up had aided him—in getting his team a house close to the bed-and-breakfast. As far as Malichai could see, more and more people were coming into San Diego from all parts of the country, and the world, for the convention. It was actually nice to see that so many people had ideas to contribute. Still, Malichai couldn’t think about anything but how to protect those people. It wouldn’t be easy in a place as big as the San Diego Convention Center.
Malichai pushed open the front door of the bed-and-breakfast and immediately felt the tension in the large house. He picked up the pace, hurrying down the hall toward the kitchen, where he knew Amaryllis would be cleaning and setting up for dinner. She’d been working all day and he’d helped her until he had to attend the meeting with Ezekiel and the others.
The sound of raised voices was loud as he made that sweep in the hall that took him from the suites to the kitchen and the beginnings of Marie’s apartment.
Marie stood up against the door leading to her private living quarters, a large man towering over her. The man was tall with wide shoulders and a barrel chest. He had both hands curled into fists and stood so close to Marie that it would have been difficult to get a piece of paper between them.
Amaryllis stood on Marie’s right, looking up at the man, not in the least intimidated, at least nothing showed on her face.
“Back up. I’m calling the cops if you don’t step back away from her right now. It’s not like she’s hiding this man in one of the rooms,” Amaryllis said. “We don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Bitch, stay out of this,” the man snarled, without taking his eyes from Marie. “This is the address he gave me,” he continued, practically spitting in Marie’s face as he spoke. “You know where he is. He owes me money and I’m going to collect it whether or not you tell me. If I don’t collect it from him, I’ll collect from you.”
“That’s a threat,” Amaryllis said. “I’ve recorded it and I can guarantee the police won’t like you making that threat.”
“I am the police, you bitch,” the man sneered. “I don’t think anyone’s going to take your word over mine. Malichai Fortunes is in this house somewhere.”
“I’m right behind you,” Malichai said softly. He’d already texted his brother to ensure he would have backup. If he was arrested, he wanted to be bailed out immediately. The only reason he could see for making this kind of power play was to remove him from the inn. That made no sense this early. The convention was still a week away.
The big man swung around, sizing Malichai up immediately. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” he ordered.
“I’ll need to see a badge first,” Malichai said. “I’m not taking your word for it that you’re a cop, especially since you came in here and tried to intimidate these women.”
“The women lied to me. I can arrest them for obstruction.”
“Actually, you can’t. Marie, as the owner of this establishment, isn’t obliged to give out her guests’ names to anyone. If anything, she has to protect them,” Malichai said mildly.
The man produced his badge. His name was John Mills. Malichai looked him over carefully. “I’m armed,” he said. “And I have a concealed weapons permit. I’ll place my weapons on the table and allow you to handcuff me.” Deliberately, he was slow about it, removing two guns and assorted knives, none of which were illegal. No officer of the law would want him to remove his own weapons. If anything, that would provoke them to be afraid he might shoot them.
Zeke, you close?
Very. Rubin has him in his sights.
That made sense, Rubin could run like the wind when he had to. The moment Malichai had contacted them, he would have come flying out of the nearby house and sprinted down the sidewalk with Ezekiel, Trap and Mordichai, uncaring who might see them.
Amaryllis could take him. I don’t believe for one second he’s a cop. He wants something. Let’s find out what it is.
I don’t like you taking chances with your life. A thread of steel ran through his brother’s voice. Through his mind. There was something close to that berserker rage Ezekiel only felt when it came to the protection of his brothers. He’d been that way as long as Malichai could remember. That rage could be lethal if it was allowed to slip loose.
It isn’t a chance when the four of you are close. You’ll need a car though.
Even as he spoke to his brother, his eyes were on Amaryllis’s face. She shook her head slightly and then glanced at Marie.
This is insane. You know he plans on killing you, Ezekiel snapped.
This is our best chance to find out what he wants. And find out who we’re up against. If this man went to the police academy, he flunked out. I took out my own weapons. Handled them right in front of him. I could have turned the gun on him and shot him or threw a knife and killed him that way. When he put the cuffs on, he didn’t notice I made certain to flex my wrists, giving myself as much room as possible.
You’re still in cuffs and he still wants you dead.
There was no arguing with Ezekiel, but there was satisfaction in knowing his brother would move heaven and earth to keep him safe.
“Let me kiss my girl good-bye,” Malichai said in a reasonable tone and stepped around Mills before he could protest.
“Zeke is watching over me,” he whispered against her lips and then took her mouth. Hard. Taking his time. Making it a luxury. She had that addicting fire that sent his mind into a place it shouldn’t go when someone wanted him dead.
“That’s enough,” Mills sputtered. He caught Malichai’s arm.
“Where are you taking him, so I can bail him out?” Amaryllis demanded.
Marie glared at him. “I’ll be filing a complaint against you personally and the department for this. It’s an outrage the way you behaved, and we have video evidence of it. Social media will get you fired.”
Mills ignored the two women and hurried Malichai away from them. Marie and Amaryllis followed, at a short distance. Malichai ignored Mills shoving him forward, his hand between Malichai’s shoulder blades, his other on his upper arm. As if that would have stopped him.
“I can take him,” Amaryllis said loud enough for Mills to hear.
He stiffened but kept walking, not turning around.
Malichai glanced over his shoulder at her and winked. “I know you can, baby. I’ll be back in an hour or so. Looking forward to dinner. You know how I love my food.”
Amaryllis didn’t return his smile, and he was certain she wasn’t going to continue cooking the dinner for the bed-and-breakfast. She would be following John Mills to get her man back. Like Malichai, she didn’t believe for one moment that he was a cop.
“What the hell did she mean by that?” Mills demanded as he yanked open the passenger rear door to a dark SUV.
“Nice ride for a cop,” Malichai observed. “She means she could kick your ass, and she could. You should never underestimate a woman just because she is one.”
Mills shoved him into the car and slammed the door, sending one furious look toward the doorway of the bed-and-breakfast. Only Marie stood there. Amaryllis had already rushed to retrieve her car.