Final Justice (Lorne Simpkins thriller (Book Three)) (22 page)

‘It kind of brought it all home to me what Charlie had to contend with last year. I’m so proud of the way she’s handled everything.’

‘She’s obviously riddled with your brave genes.’ Tony laughed as his hand stroked her arm sending flames of desire running through her.

‘What happens now?’

‘Well, the minute I realised he had taken you, I rang London. They’re sending out a couple of agents to help. I’ll keep quiet about you escaping until tomorrow, otherwise, they might deploy the agents elsewhere. I’d like to bring Baldwin down once and for all and the more reinforcements we have out here to do that, the better. Now, how about we get some sleep?’

She looked up at him, desire written in her face. ‘How about we don’t?’

Grinning, he didn’t need asking twice …

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The following morning a loud thumping on their hotel room door, woke the pair of new lovers.

‘Jesus! It’s nearly ten,’ Tony said, giving Lorne a quick kiss on the lips before jumping out of bed to put on his trousers.

She stretched under the covers and smiled at him. ‘I take it a repeat of last night’s action is out of the question then?’

The glint in her eye and her teasing smile must have amused Tony
,
as he leapt on to the bed again. ‘You little minx, I can see you getting me into severe trouble. As much as I’d love to make love to you again I have a feeling that’s the reinforcements at the door. Now, get your amazingly firm arse out of this bed, and into the bathroom, and don’t forget to take your clothes with you.’ He winked at her. ‘And we’ll sort out the encore later, that’s a promise.’ He tore back the bedclothes and ran his love-filled eyes over her naked body, somehow resisting the temptation to jump on her again by shoving her out of the bed.

Lorne wiggled her way towards the bathroom picking up her clothes en-route. Before entering the bathroom she paused and looked back over her shoulder to see if he was watching her, she needn’t have worried, he appeared transfixed by the movement of her body, and as she gazed down, the bulge in his trousers made it obvious he was enjoying the show.

Another thunderous knock on the door brought Tony’s focus back to getting dressed. He threw on his blue shirt, leaving it hanging out on purpose, hoping to disguise his erection; he squeezed his eyes shut as the shower started, anticipating he was about to receive the ribbing of his life from his colleagues.

When he threw open the door two men, both in their mid-twenties, were standing either side of it, arms folded, their heads resting against the doorframe, knowing smiles on their smug faces.

‘Busy were you, Warner?’

‘Fuck off, Taylor.’ He stood back and both men entered the room, their eyes glued to the messed up bed.
Shit! This is all I need. This will keep these guys in ammunition for bloody months.
‘We were forced to share a bed, lack of funds from HQ and it was the only room available when we booked in late last night.’

‘Who’re you trying to fucking kid? So you got her back then, when?’ The other man said a look of distrust set on his face.

‘Yeah, and she was damn lucky to escape from the bastard
.
I got a call from her, well, her father actually, about twelve last night.’

‘Nice and convenient!’

‘Your point is, Weir?’

The agent shrugged and sat down on the end of the bed. ‘Just saying … haven’t got us out here under false pretences I hope, Warner?’

They all glanced at the bathroom door when they heard the shower stop. Under his breath Taylor said, ‘Can’t wait to see what all the fuss is about.’

‘All right you two fucking behave yourselves when she comes out, do you hear me?’

‘Or?’ Weir asked, stretching his legs out.

‘All right, cut the crap. We need to get this guy and there’s no way on this earth I could manage that alone. You’re here now so stop the whinging, okay? Is HQ still tracking his vehicle?’

‘As far as I know, I’ve got to tell them we’ve located you and the girl anyway, I’ll make the call.’ Taylor went back out into the hallway and left Warner and Weir eyeing each other cautiously.

‘Come on then let’s have it, Weir?’ Tony propped himself up against the dressing table and crossed his arms in front of him.

‘I think we’ve been down this road before, mate, haven’t we?’

‘This is different. Lorne and I know where we stand. She knows the job …’ Just then the bathroom door opened and Lorne breezed into the room, her shoulders back and ready for a fight.

‘Don’t stop now, Tony. The conversation was just getting interesting.’ She stopped in front of the man lounging on the bed, her arm outstretched ready to shake his hand.

Weir accepted her hand with a shocked look and a half-smile. Lorne made sure her handshake was much firmer than usual and felt a glow of satisfaction rise inside when she noted the surprise in the agent’s eyes.

Still holding her hand, Weir rose from the bed. ‘Pleased to meet you, Lorne. You had us worried there for a while. Glad to see you back safe. You were lucky to have escaped from Baldwin. Hope he came off worse than you in the fight?’

‘He did, I assure you. You were
worried,
well that’s good to know.’ She removed her hand from his and forced a smile. ‘You were saying, Tony?’

Tony was wearing his strongest poker face and his eyes remained firmly on hers. But Lorne simply smiled at him and pushed him aside in order to retrieve the dryer out of the dressing table drawer. Both men watched her trundle back into the bathroom acting as though she didn’t have a care in the world.

Weir shook his head and mumbled, ‘I rest my case.’ Meaning he was comparing Lorne to Tony’s other conquests.

Before Tony could fight his corner again a sullen-faced Taylor came back into the room.

‘What’s up?’ Tony asked, his concern matching that of his colleague.

‘It’s Baldwin … He’s gone already.’

‘What? When?’ Tony and Weir asked at the same time.

Taylor’s eyes screwed up and zeroed in on Tony. ‘Probably while you were screwing her ladyship in …’

Fearing that Tony was about to lunge at Taylor, Weir stood between them.

‘Fuck off, Taylor. Just give us the facts without the wisecracks,’ Tony demanded.

The three men turned to face Lorne when she opened the bathroom door and wandered back into the relatively small room, her hair dried and heavily made-up to disguise her black eyes. ‘What?’ she asked puzzled.

Tony nodded for Taylor to continue, ‘Baldwin left his hotel in the early hours of this morning,’ he turned to Tony and stated his voice full of accusation. ‘Apparently, HQ has been trying to contact you every hour on the hour since.’

Lorne blushed and Tony dashed to his phone, which was sitting on the small bedside table. He let out a heavy breath and threw the phone on the bed. ‘Bloody battery is dead. Don’t look at me like that, you two. I found Lorne well after midnight, badly beaten as you can see. And by the time she went over what had happened …’

‘Stop! Tony you shouldn’t have to make excuses for me. If you guys don’t believe what went on here last night then that’s your problem not ours.’ She jutted out her breasts stubbornly, and then folded her arms when she realised three sets of eyes were focused on her slightly exposed cleavage.

Weir retorted under his breath, ‘Guess it’s our fault Baldwin’s got away again, is it? Mind you, you should be used to that— ’

‘All right, Weir, that was uncalled for. Arguing amongst ourselves isn’t getting us anywhere. Taylor, have HQ got a location on Baldwin?’ Tony asked.

‘He was last spotted going past the junction for Orange on the A7, approximately 220kilometres from here, showing no signs of stopping either.’

Taylor had a map in his hand and Tony took it from him, studied it for a few moments then said, ‘That’s strange, he usually takes a break every few hundred kilometres, wonder what that’s all about?’

Lorne was the first to offer a suggestion. ‘Consider this. Every time he’s stopped something has happened.’ She hesitated as the men contemplated her idea, looking perplexed. It wasn’t until Tony gave her a quick nod urging her to carry on that she continued, ‘When we stopped at Le Mans, the Lieutenant’s body was found. Then he abducted me. Makes you wonder if he’s playing games with us, or warning us?’

‘You have a point, Lorne. Maybe he’s meeting up with someone further on and he’s rushing to get there. Have you guys got a rental car?’

‘Yep,’ Weir answered. ‘We better get on the move before he connects with anyone else. You guys get things sorted here and check out. We’ll try and locate some breakfast for all of us, meet up again outside in what, ten minutes?’

After the two agents left the room, Tony walked over to Lorne and gathered her in his arms. She released a comforting sigh as her head came to rest on his chest. ‘Hey, ignore their leg-pulling, they’re harmless enough. You all ready to go?’

Lorne smiled up at him. ‘It’ll take me a couple of minutes to pack my bag and Tony…’

Head tilted, his eyes asked the question.

‘Don’t worry about the guys. I might have taken a year off work, but coming up with suitable put downs is built-in, something that’ll never abandon me. Don’t forget the ‘pigs’ I had to deal with in the MET, no pun intended. What I’m trying to say is, don’t feel as though you need to jump to my defence all the time.’

Their lips met, lingering for a few moments before Tony pulled away. Smiling he twisted her around and patted her gently on the backside. ‘As much as I’d love to continue this, I think capturing Baldwin should be at the top of our list of priorities.’ He picked up his hold-all, placed it on the bed and within seconds had zipped it up and announced, ‘I’ll go settle the bill. Two minutes, okay?’

Lorne mock-saluted him and intentionally wiggled her backside, then watched him walk out of the hotel room. She felt like she was walking on air when she marched into the bathroom to pack her travel bag.

Eyeing her reflection in the small mirror above the sink she shook her head and warned, ‘You’ll be foolish to get involved, girl. Ha … since when did I listen to you?’

Chapter Forty

The two car convoy sped through the French countryside, staying just under the speed limit, the last thing they needed was to get picked up for speeding. Between them, they decided Tony would lead in his car, while Taylor and Weir would be the ones to remain in contact with Headquarters. Any news gathered would be passed via Tony’s now fully recharged mobile.  

Lorne had been given the job of answering Tony’s phone. ‘Hello?’ Tony glanced sideways as she listened and nodded her head to what the caller had to say. ‘Okay, I’ll let Tony know.’

‘Was it Taylor?’

‘Yep, Baldwin is still on the A7, he’s just passed Avignon. He thinks we’ve made up some ground on him, according to London he’s now approximately 150kilometres ahead of us.’

‘That’s a good sign, I suppose.’

‘He’s still a good way ahead of us, though.’

‘What are you thinking? I’ve been keeping an eye on you for the past half-hour or so, and you’ve been so deep in thought you haven’t noticed.’

She smiled as their eyes met briefly, before Tony turned his attention back to the road.

‘There’s no flies on you, is there? I was mulling over a few possibilities that’s all. A few what ifs, if you like, such as, what if he’s leading us into one of his notorious traps, the last time he did that, I lost my partner.’ A picture of Pete’s chubby face and cheeky smile forced its way into her mind, and her eyes misted over. She remained silent for a moment, then took a tissue from a pack lying on the seat, and blew her nose. The image of Pete brought with it an intense pain of sadness and loss to her heart. ‘I still miss him,’ she said, and sniffled.

Tony gently squeezed her hand and reassured her by saying, ‘Lorne, you have three MI6 agents watching your back this time round.’

Releasing a long sigh, she said, ‘There is that, I suppose. Last time he abducted me there was only the one.’ He withdrew his hand sharply an offended look on his face. ‘Sorry, it was meant as a joke. A poor one admittedly.’

His frown vanished, replaced by a small smile. ‘What other "what ifs" did you think of?’ 

‘Thinking back, I’m wondering if the Lieutenant was the only one involved with Baldwin’s plans …’

‘Go on.’

‘What if you were right about the Capitaine all along? What if they used Rene as a scapegoat, a convenience who outlived her usefulness?’

‘I’m glad you finally agree with me about the smarmy Frenchman but there’s little we can do about that now.’

‘Oh I don’t know. Has MI6 delved into his past?’

‘I think they carried out a small background search on the guy, nothing too deep. When we stop again, I’ll ring and ask them to dig deeper into his record.’

‘Umm …With respect, Tony, that might be too late. What about me placing the call for you?’

‘Dial the number, it’s on speed dial 7, then I’ll talk to HQ on the hands-free.’

Without hesitating Lorne dialled the number and Tony issued the order to London, who told him they would get back to him within a couple of hours.

With all the "what ifs" dealt with, and the day turning into night, Lorne decided to try and catch up on some of the sleep she’d missed out on the night before. Sleep came easy to her, despite the drone of the engine as Tony raced along the A7 in pursuit of Baldwin. But within half-an-hour she was fully awake, as Baldwin’s vile features and what his intentions were back at the hotel, infiltrated her dream.

‘Nice sleep?’

‘Hardly. I just can’t seem to get away from the image of that bastard …’

‘Try not to dwell on it, Lorne, I know it’s easier said than done, but this time we’ll nab him for sure. The team we have now has more than thirty years’ experience of covert operations under their belts.’

His words reassured her, but before she could respond, Tony’s mobile rang and Lorne answered it.

 
‘Okay, I’ll let Tony know,’ she said, and dropped the phone back into her lap. ‘Taylor says Baldwin has turned onto the A8 at Aix-en-Provence, still on course for Monaco.’