LITMIR.BIZ

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and Gus stepped in front of Charlie.

      “We’ve got trouble,” Gus said into his microphone.

      “How much trouble?” Mack asked.

      “Six deep,” Gus said. Six big burly men, none of whom wore the uniforms of the paid security guards.

      Gus braced himself as the men rushed them.

      The first one to Gus swung a meaty fist at his head. Gus ducked and slammed his fist into the man’s gut.

      The man doubled over but was replaced by the next man behind him.

      Gus didn’t let the fact they were outnumbered slow him down. He had to keep even one of them from getting to Charlie.

      Declan had his hands full, throwing punches, ducking some and taking a couple to the jaw. The men they were fighting were trained combatants. For every punch Gus threw, they hit back with equal aim and dexterity.

      While Gus and Declan fought off two each, the fifth and sixth men circled around them and grabbed Charlie’s arm.

      She screamed, kicked and cursed, doing her best to protect herself. But she was one woman. The two men were bigger, stronger and meaner than anything she could offer in the way of a fight.

      Gus punched and kicked like a madman, but he couldn’t free himself from the two men fast enough to help Charlie and neither could Declan.

      Then, out of the shadows, came a whirling dervish in a black dress. She attacked the men holding Charlie, landing a side kick in one guy’s kidney. She spun and swept her other foot around, hitting the other guy in the temple.

      Both men staggered and loosened their holds on Charlie long enough for her to get away.

      The woman in the black dress didn’t stop there.

      When the men reached out for Charlie again, the woman grabbed one man’s arm and, using his own momentum, flipped him. He landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

      The other guy, seeing his partner laid low, went after the woman in the black dress. He grabbed her from behind around the middle and lifted her off the ground.

      Gus had his own hands full taking care of the two who had him cornered. One pulled a knife and lunged at him. Gus grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the knife, twisted it around and slammed the knife into the second man’s ribs. The man went down with the knife still stuck inside him.

      An elbow to the nose of the man still standing got his attention. Gus brought up his knee at the same time he slammed the man’s head down. He lay still on the pavement.

      Gus went after the guy holding the woman in black.

      Before he could reach him, the woman doubled over, her feet hit the ground and she flipped with the man holding her around her waist. Twisting free, she rolled out of range and came up in a ready stance.

      The two men who’d fought with the woman took off, running for the shadows.

      Declan’s two attackers broke free, grabbed the man on the ground by the arms and hauled him to his feet. Then they ran after the others.

      The man with the knife in his ribs lay groaning on the pavement, his voice trailing off as blood spilled onto the ground.

      Declan ran for Charlie who stood nearby.

      Gus approached the woman in the black dress.

      She raised her hands. “I’m not here to hurt Mrs. Halverson. I only need to talk to her. Nothing more.”

      Security guards ran toward them.

      “I can’t stay,” the strange woman said, her eyes wide as the guards came closer. “I can’t let them question me.”

      “Meet us at the corner three blocks in that direction.” Charlie pointed. “We’ll pick you up in my car.”

      The woman hesitated.

      Charlie reached out and touched her arm. “Trust me. We’ll be there.”

      After a solemn nod to Charlie and a glance over her shoulder at the people headed toward them, the woman ran.

      “What were you thinking?” Declan asked. “You don’t know who she is or what she wants. She could be after the same thing those men wanted. You for ransom.”

      “If she hadn’t shown up when she did, I might not be standing here,” Charlie said. “You two were outnumbered.”

      Gus nodded. Charlie was right. The men they’d fought had been trained in hand-to-hand combat. They hadn’t been easy to overcome. If the mystery woman hadn’t come along when she had, Charlie could have been taken or killed.

      “Now, let’s get past all the police questions and on the road home. I want to know more about our mystery helper.” Charlie started for the front of the hotel. “First off, where did she learn to fight like that? I need her to teach me a few tricks so I don’t get into another situation like that. I don’t like feeling helpless.”

      Gus would like to know more about the woman, as well. She’d impressed the hell out of him with her fighting skills. He had questions for her, too. And he wasn’t so sure they could trust her. Obviously, she could take care of herself, but would she use those skills on them to overtake the team and the driver and abscond with Charlie?

      THREE BLOCKS DOWN the road from the Mayflower Hotel, she waited in the shadows, watching for a limousine. Had the Halverson woman told her she’d collect her to get her to leave her alone?

      Wearing only the dress and the high heels she’d worn to the party, it wasn’t long before the chill night air set in. She rubbed her bare arms and stamped her feet, praying a limousine would drive up, she’d get in and the heater would be on full blast.

      She’d ask all the questions after she’d thawed her cold hands and quit shaking like a blender on full speed. And she’d thought the heat intolerable in Syria.

      At that moment, she could stand a good reason to sweat. If she weren’t wearing the heels, she’d jog up and down the alley to get her blood moving. Alas, the straps were digging into her skin and making blisters. Running was only an option if her life depended on it.

      Without a watch, she couldn’t tell how much time had passed since Charlotte Halverson had promised to pick her up. Several vehicles had gone by, but none had been a limousine.

      Giving up wasn’t an option. She had nowhere else to go. No money, no home, no extra clothing. The jeans and T-shirt she’d arrived at the hotel in were where she’d left them when she’d changed into the staff’s uniform.

      She didn’t think she was the kind of person who stole items on a regular basis. When she had, it had been purely a matter of desperation. Until she knew who she was, she didn’t know whether she’d had a job, a bank account or a home. Surely someone missed her somewhere. Someone who knew her life history. Her name.

      One thing she’d learned about herself in her journey to that corner in DC was that she knew how to fight. Her moves were instinctive. Though she’d bet they were learned. The kind of learning that required lots of practice and repetition. Training.

      Had she been in the military? Perhaps she was a member of the CIA. That would explain why she had been captured and tortured. It would also explain why she had no identification papers on her.

      If the Halverson woman didn’t know who she was, perhaps she’d go to the CIA and ask if they were missing an agent.

      Unless...she was wanted by the CIA. In which case, she would be trading one prison cell for another. And she couldn’t go back into captivity. She’d die fighting before she would allow anyone to capture and torture her again.

      A dark SUV slowed at the corner Charlotte Halverson had indicated. Since it wasn’t a limousine, she had no

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