“I don’t know that Baz will care.” Damon checked the clip on his SIG and holstered the weapon. He pulled the cap low on his head.
He wasn’t wearing a vest. There was nothing to stop a bullet from taking him out except his wits and speed, and she’d seen that his speed wasn’t what it used to be.
“He’ll care when his employers decide he isn’t worth the trouble. Somehow I don’t think The Collective’s layoff package is going to include job retraining,” Charlotte Taggart said.
Damon held out a hand, helping her out of the car. “We’re not going to argue about this anymore. There’s no point.”
“The Collective sounds awesome. I mean, that’s a story. You know?” Candice shook out her light brown hair. “I could really break out with that.”
“Or you could find yourself beheaded and tossed into the Thames.”
She was going to kill Damon. “He’s joking.”
Damon frowned. “No, I’m not. They won’t take kindly to some reporter sniffing around. Besides, she works for one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. How do we know her newspaper chain isn’t a part of The Collective?”
Candice froze. “Oh my god. I hadn’t thought about that. What if I’m working for the enemy? Do you think they already know? They’re probably watching me.”
He seemed to almost delight in baiting the reporter. Or did Damon know he was actually getting to her? Penny put a hand on Candice. “Stop. You can’t think that way. It’s very unlikely or they would have picked you up and they would be the ones forcing you to bring Bennett in. So stop worrying about it. Stay calm. It’s all going to be over in less than an hour.”
Candice nodded, taking a deep breath. “All right. And I’ll have a hell of a story. Yes. I’ll be fine.”
Penny left Candice with Charlotte and stepped away, gesturing for Damon to follow her. The minute they were out of earshot, she rounded on him. “Stop trying to scare her.”
He stood far too close to her. “I’m trying to keep her alive.”
“By terrifying her? She won’t be able to stay calm if you don’t stop telling her all the ways she could die.”
A single brow swept up his forehead. “She doesn’t seem to have your fortitude. I’ve told you all the ways you can die and you’re still here.”
She wished he wouldn’t stand so close, but she couldn’t back down now. “I have a job to do. She isn’t trained and she didn’t take an oath to protect her country. You can’t compare us.”
“I compare everyone to you.” His expression didn’t change at all though his voice went deeper. “Why won’t you sleep with me?”
She stared for a moment, utterly taken aback. All she could manage was a quick shake of her head as she spoke. “This isn’t the time or the place.”
He crowded her again, taking a step toward her, forcing her back against the concrete. “It’s the only place. It’s the only time you’ve been alone with me since last night. You pretended to be asleep when I came to bed. You locked me out of the bathroom. By the time you came out, the Taggarts had invaded. Did you text her to come over? I noticed you grabbed your phone during your escape.”
She had texted Charlotte. She’d done it before she’d stepped into the shower because she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t end up right back in bed with the same man who threatened to share her with all-comers. “I thought we all should talk before breakfast.”
“You thought you could avoid talking to me at all.”
Well, he’d fooled her. She certainly hadn’t expected him to corner her when they had a mission to perform. He was right. She was trying to avoid him and she still wanted to. “Damon, we need to get to the church.”
His mobile trilled and he bit back a curse as he pulled it from his slacks. A grim look came into his eyes as he read whatever was there.
“Who is it?” Penny asked, though she feared she knew the answer. The question was whether or not their game was up.
“It’s Baz. He says the meet is at three.”
A weird sense of relief hit her. “You were right.”
“Yes. And he’s waiting in that church. He’s not where he tried to send us. He wanted us as far from this church as he could get us.” His eyes pinned her as surely as if he’d put his hands on her. “Don’t forget what I said. You stay close to Tag or Jake or I’ll punish you.”
An ache went through her heart at his words. At least he was holding his ground. He’d meant what he’d said the night before. It made it easy to let herself go cold. “Of course. I assure you, I won’t give you any reason to lay hands on me ever again, Mr. Knight.”
His eyes tightened and it was easy to see he had questions. She regretted her choice of words because it looked like he was willing to have it out right in the garage.
“We need to move.” Taggart’s voice echoed through the space. “We still have a half an hour. I’d like Penny to try talking to the shopkeeper to see if we can figure out if Baz is alone and where he might be coming from.”
A sigh split Damon’s mouth. “All right.” He stared down at her for a second more. “This isn’t over, Penelope.”
But it was for now. She watched him walk away. When they caught Bennett, she would get on the first plane back home.
Safe from him. Safe from herself.
Damon moved toward the entrance of the Temppeliaukio Kirkko otherwise known to tourists as the Rock Church. The odd building sat in the middle of the Töölö neighborhood in Helsinki. He turned back briefly, looking down the long street that led to the Lutheran church. The shop Jake Dean had found was on the corner. Penelope had stood inside. Speaking in perfect Finnish to the owner, she’d learned that Baz had been in Helsinki for at least four days. He seemed to be staying in the neighborhood and hadn’t been spotted with anyone else.
Damon knew he was right. Baz was up to his old tricks, but he could be deadly when he was trying to get ahead. Just because he didn’t have backup didn’t mean he was any less lethal.
He’d stared at Penelope as she’d easily charmed the shopkeeper. The man had gone from suspicious to smiling and laughing within a few moments of talking with her. That was who she was. Damon could charm a woman into his bed, but he couldn’t make people light up the way Penelope could. She was a bit of sunshine walking through the gloom.
He almost wished he’d never gone to bed with her. For years he’d been able to watch her, want her in a general way. Now he craved her.
He forced his thoughts away from his misery.
The church looked like a bunker set into the earth. Concrete marked the outside, the entryway a simple row of glass doors under the long overhang. Just above, a wall of rock looked incongruously ancient in contrast to the postmodern simplicity of the entry. To his left, the wall was covered in green vines, the only spark of color to be seen on the building. The rest seemed a bit bland, all shades of brown or gray.
Simon Weston sat on the bench in front of the vined wall, his big body slumped over as he seemed to study a map. Damon couldn’t see his face. He had to admit the man blended in well.
To his right, Ian Taggart hoisted himself up the natural rock stairs formed by the side of the hill the church was built into. He moved up and past the small cross that denoted the building. From his vantage, he would be able to see 360 degrees around the building.
He also made a huge target, but he wasn’t alone up there. Tourists were everywhere. It was exactly the kind of spot Baz despised. He preferred to work under the cover of darkness, in the shadows.