Operation London (23 page)

Ava nodded and tried to respect Magdalene's professional impulses instead of feeling scared out of her mind
. A large part of her realized that she would never have had the courage to do a thing like that where Angel was involved. Never in her career had she been so upset by someone. Then again, she had never had to work so closely with such an absolute maniac.

Miguel looked at his watch and suddenly went to grab his jacket.

"Your meeting?" Ava asked and he nodded reluctantly.

"I hate to go in the middle of all of this
. I can come over late tonight and be with you," he said as they walked to the door.

"I'd like that," she smiled, her full lips turning up slowly.

"Ava, I still don't like the idea of you and Angel meeting in Mexico," he said after he pulled away from a very satisfying kiss. "I know he scares you a little, but it's not even enough. You don't understand the lengths he'll go to fill the evil void he's created."  His brown eyes searched her face, wondering why she would put her life so precariously on the line. The answer surfaced instantly as Ava's gaze fell on the forlorn pictures littering the tabletop. Marie.

"I need to find this little girl before she's so badly hurt that she'll never be okay again," Ava said firmly
. With that she pushed him towards the door. "Now go, and good luck. You have to stop filling your time with worrying about me!  I'm a professional, and I promise you I won't do anything stupid."

"Keep that promise, Ava," he said, his voice suddenly serious
. "And I vow to protect you from him at any cost. I care about you more than you realize." 

His last words stole her breath, made her blood sing
. He crushed her lips to his, holding her firmly to his body before letting her go and jogging to his own car.

Ava took a long look at his retreating body, wishing that she could spend the day wrapped in his arms
. Last night made her body ache for more. It had been a long time since she had longed for quiet and companionship the way she did for Miguel. If it wasn't for the girl, she didn't know how willing she would be to put this relationship to the test.

Ava shook her head as she paced back into her sunny kitchen where Cormac and Magdalene were arguing over Magdalene's idea to order him "cuter" luggage.

"It will be good for you!  It will help the entire...."

"Ridiculous charade?" he tried sourly.

"No!  I was thinking ambiance."

Ava chuckled, enjoying a light moment at a time when she realized they would become scarcer and scarcer.

Angel Espino lay back on his bed, naked except for a towel clinging to his slim waist. His eyes were shut but he was grinding his teeth over and over, the crunching sound satisfying him as he wore away at them. Last night had not gone well with his father. Someone had stopped his man before he made it to Conway's office and Angel had borne the grunt of the lectures, being scolded by his father in front of that prick Conway.

He pictured Conway's pale, weak face in his mind's eye and everything grew dull with
rage. He could take it out on Conway's sniveling bitch daughter when he got to Mexico. She had cried like a baby when he left her there, pleading to at least get her a new pair of glasses. Hers had been ruined or lost, that night so many weeks ago when he had threatened to light her on fire, held her so near that his nostrils pricked at the first faint hints of burning skin. It had been easy to get her to agree to do what he said after that, and then he had her in his bed and her father giving him cash for it. Not that she was of much use to him, with all her crying and carrying on. A little bit made him hot, but he couldn't listen to that all the time. He had loved watching her snort cocaine, the same little slut who had vowed that she never wanted to try those kinds of drugs. She cried again when she did it, but she always cried. Angel shrugged at the memory. Maybe she just liked crying.

He rolled over slightly and grabbed a pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and putting it to his lips
. He clicked the lighter and watched as the bright flame danced in front of his eyes. What was it about that flame that turned him on?  What about this little bit of heat made him feel whole?

It was the power
. He might not be able to get at guns or bombs or knives without looking suspicious, but he could always walk into any convenience store or gas station and pick up a lighter for less than a dollar. And that little innocent, unsuspecting purchase could cause the worst kind of devastation. He had watched people burn to death in fires, and his mind smoldered around those images. It wasn't pretty. It was the kind of death that made you beg. It made you scream and plea for mercy. But there was no mercy in fire.

Cigarette still hanging out of his mouth, he let go of the button, watched the flame disappear
. Ava was the first woman who had reminded him of fire, with her sun kissed skin and her smoky eyes and that hair, dancing with golden highlights like flames. But the way she moved was what really made him want her, the way he had only wanted fire before. She trembled and wavered and licked and pulled, like so many flames. And she was dangerous. Powerful. Hot.

Closing his eyes he imagined being near her, tasting and pleasuring her
. The lighter flicked back on. He began to feel the sweet burst of pleasure that flames always brought him.

"Angel!"

A woman's scream broke his concentration.

What are you doing?  What have you done to yourself?" Lucia was yelling, tears already spilling from her pretty eyes.

"I told you to knock before you came in," he said gruffly. Looking down he saw the large welt burned into his arm from his own lighter. The pink skin was already puckering and the pain of the burn began to spread.

"Knock?  You were trying to kill yourself!" she cried, trying to put her arms around him as he pushed her away
. "Why would you do this to yourself?"

"It's nothing, Cia," he sighed, getting up to escort her out of the dark, plush suite.

"Nothing?" she asked angrily, grabbing his arm and twisting it so the welt showed.

"I said nothing!" he yelled, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her up against the softly painted gray walls
. His room was simple and elegant, a touch too cool for Lucia's tastes. It was also very large. So large that no one would hear her screams. He could turn on the whirlpool in his master bathroom and there would be no noise whatsoever. Lucia knew this trick well. They had had a lot of fun and muffled it all with that whirlpool.
Right now fun was the farthest thing from her mind. Her brother's eyes had a glaze over them that made him look like a reptile. He was breathing hard out of his mouth, lines of spittle falling from the corners.

"Angel," she said, her voice like a lullaby
. "Please let me go. Please, I'll do anything you want."

He looked around suspiciously
. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He swallowed hard a few times. The girl's face was so sexy and inviting. He groaned and pressed his forehead to her chest, his hold on her arms relaxing.

Anything you want," she whispered softly and led him to the black satin bed.

Miguel sat in his meeting, his brown eyes wide with an excitement he was having a hard time hiding. He had just signed his name to a loan for a new restaurant in his name. The president of the bank signed hers underneath with a flourish.

"Congratulations, Mr. Gustan
. I haven't felt this confident signing a loan approval in a long time. I wish you the best of luck," she smiled, shaking his hand firmly.

"Thank you."  Miguel felt a chill pass over his spine
. Today was supposed to be completely happy and rewarding for him. It represented the culmination of years of hard work. He had run so far from his past that he hoped he could let it all go. Apparently his old life wasn't going to go away as quickly as he'd like.

Angel Espino still hung over his head, threatening every move he made and encroaching with stealth determination on the one thing Miguel treasured above everything: Ava.

Shaking himself out of his private musings, Miguel thanked the bank members and left. When he called
Arbor
to tell them the good news, the boss told him to take the night off, go have some fun. He made a u-turn and headed to Ava's house.

Parking the car, Miguel crept around the side of the house, looking into her low window
. Ava was on a mat, her legs twisted in an odd angle above her head. Her gray eyes were closed and she looked very calm, very intent on what she was doing.

"Yoga," Miguel chuckled, drinking in her long limbs and the delicate curve of her spine
. It amazed him that every time he saw her he felt a rush, as if he had been punched in the stomach, as if was on a roller coaster plummeting down. After a few minutes she relaxed her position and got up to get a drink. Miguel crept to the kitchen to surprise her.

She was pouring a glass of water when he peeked his head above the windowsill.

"Hey honey. Whatcha doin?" he asked, grinning.

In the blink of an eye Miguel was staring at a gun, aimed to drive a bullet straight through his head.

"Miguel!" she cried, dropping the weapon limply at her side. He grabbed the window frame and swung himself up onto the ledge, suit and all.

"Ava," he asked softly
. "Why did you have a gun on you?" He pulled her into his arms, the feel of her rapid heartbeat tattooing a rhythm on his chest. Her hand, which had been straight and controlled just a moment before, shook like a dry leaf.

"Miguel, you shouldn't have snuck up on me like that!"

"I know. I could have been shot," he returned wryly. Did she always carry a gun?

"Why did you have a gun on you?" he asked again
. He noticed that a large part of his relationship with Ava consisted of his repeating questions over and over, trying to draw out some of her many mysteries.

"We're going on a real mission," she began slowly, raising her large gray eyes to meet his
. "Once we're in Mexico, the blanket of security we could expect from this community is gone. We have no choice but to be well prepared." 

She sounded like some kind of robot-spy to him, and he didn't like it.

"So you always carry one?" he asked, thoughts of his own days with guns and knives running through his head.

"No
. That's the problem, actually. I'm trained, these guns are all legal, but I don't have much practice. At Lynx my physical safety was guaranteed by a whole team of agents."

Her statement didn't make him feel any better at all.

"I think now is a bad time to start waving one around," he said lowly.

"I think now is a better time than when Angel has one aimed between my eyes," she snapped back
.

Miguel bit his tongue
. He was concerned for her safety, but his involvement was obviously making her resentful. He had vowed to protect her, and that is what he would do. In the meantime, he was going to have to learn to trust her or he was going to lose her forever.

The two were locked in the moment when Cormac burst in.

"Ava, the car's ready. I put all of our stuff- hardware, software, weapons, you name it- in panels in the seats and floorboards," he said excitedly. "She's absolutely clean, undetectable."  He was gushing until he noticed the tense silence. "Sorry, love. Did I come in at a bad time?"

"Not at all," Ava said, giving Cormac a small smile
. "Miguel, if you wanted to help....."

"I do."

"Maybe you could double check the documents and papers. I have a list in on the bed," she said, her eyes begging him to drop his agenda for the day.

He decided to comply with anything she wished as long as he knew he'd be with her in Mexico
. "That would be fine," he said, kissing her lightly before leaving the room.

"Cormac," she said, "I need you to contact Magdalene and get a hold on our tapped records from Lincoln Academy
. Lucia called me before you got here. She wanted to cancel the dance class tonight."

"Why?" Cormac asked, easing himself onto the counter like a dark panther.

"Apparently she met with Henry Reynolds earlier today," Ava said. Cormac's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "He's the headmaster at Lincoln Academy. I originally bugged his office as backup when I thought Marie's parents might care enough to meet with her school personnel. Obviously, that didn't happen, but it worked out in our benefit anyway."
"Do you think Lucia went to talk about Marie?" he asked.

"We can't know for sure, but whatever it was about, it's worth it for us to know."  Ava bit her full lip
. Lucia's phone call had been pretty extreme. She had definitely been crying and she had discussed her fears about Angel and her need to see Henry Reynolds before she got off of the phone in a hurry, as if someone were coming down the hall after her.

Cormac was already on the phone, talking to Magdalene about coming over as soon as possible
. Magdalene made it in less than fifteen minutes and soon all four of them were sitting around the table while she buzzed through hours of transmissions, including two pretty racy encounters between Reynolds and his new secretary.