Her hand clutched his arm. “Damon, I can’t leave you.”
Anger and fear were a toxic mix in his system. “You bloody well can, and if you can’t follow orders then I have absolutely no use for you. Are we understood? I am your superior and I expect to be obeyed without question, so you will move your arse and if I find out you’ve called anyone, I’ll make your life a living hell and you know I can do it.”
He knew he’d been too harsh, but she was standing right in front of a hardened killer who wouldn’t think twice about slitting her throat if he thought it would get to Damon. He couldn’t be gentle with her.
And damn it, she was supposed to obey. He glanced briefly at her, enough to see that she’d gone bright red, tears shining in her eyes, but her mouth remained stubbornly closed and she nodded.
“I need my card.” She moved toward Baz, holding her hand out as though he would just politely give it back to her and not use her as a hostage.
Damon gripped her wrist, pulling her back. “Bloody well take mine and get the fuck out of here.”
“You’re being terribly rude, Damon. I hope he doesn’t shoot you again, but only because I’m a better person than you.” She turned and walked off.
Baz chuckled. “Isn’t she that stick-up-her-arse translator? She’s gotten a bit cheeky. Maybe you took the stick out and replaced it with something more personal, eh, mate? You always did like the chunky ones.”
“Give me one reason I don’t kill you right here.” Because now that Penelope was out of the line of fire, he couldn’t think of a single good one.
And he was definitely getting her a gun and making sure she knew how to use it.
Baz twirled his finger, gesturing to the large crowds around them. “Well, first of all, you don’t really want me to open fire on all these very nice people. And then there’s all the CCTVs. I don’t think Nigel wants his golden boy featured on telly. Or maybe that would solve his problem. They don’t want you in the field, you know. You’re used goods, done up and all that fun stuff.”
He needed to stay calm, but he felt his anger rising, a real visceral element threatening to take over his body. “You don’t know a damn thing.”
Baz shrugged negligently. “Course I do. I read your medical records. When I need a good laugh, I read them again. They’re my favorite bedtime story. You can’t seriously think we don’t still have people at SIS, do you? As for that, I work for a company that has even better access than SIS. Taggart’s crew did a good job hiding your medical records. SIS doesn’t even know you saw a doctor in Dallas. You know, the one who found the issue with your heart. It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”
He thought Adam Miles had hidden those files. The doctors who had saved his life hadn’t found the damage to his heart. It had only been once he saw a specialist in Dallas that the true extent of the damage had been discovered. Taggart had helped him hide it from Nigel, but it looked like the news was out. “That’s really none of your business, is it?”
“It’s all my business. But don’t worry that I’ll tattle. I like the idea of playing this game with you.” He stopped for moment, his eyes looking up and down Damon, making him uncomfortable in a way only Baz ever could. “I meant what I said though. You really do look good.”
He tried to ignore Baz’s personal comments, sticking on the more professional statements he’d made. The thought turned his blood cold. He’d been gone for months. He hadn’t really thought about the fact that there could be more moles. He couldn’t even convince Nigel that The Collective existed. “If you have people in SIS, I promise you I’ll find them.”
“Maybe you already have.” His eyes drifted to where Penelope had disappeared. “She would be the perfect mole, you know. She’s so innocent looking no one would suspect her. Maybe your new girl is really working with me. After all, how else did I find you so quickly?”
If there was one thing he knew, it was that Penelope Cash couldn’t betray a fly, much less her country. “Don’t bother. I won’t believe a bloody thing you say about her.”
“It’s worth a try. Think about it. She really is perfect. She’s smart. She’s always in the office. She could get access to your records and no one would suspect her because she’s such a sweet little thing.”
He wasn’t going to allow Baz to drone on. “I’m going to bring you in. I promise. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to be the one who takes you down.”
Baz’s eyes went oddly blank and the smile on his face dimmed. “It would be fitting, of course. You know I didn’t really want to shoot you. I had to. I had to try to keep my place in SIS. I’m not as valuable on the outside.”
His heart was racing, adrenaline beginning to pound through his system. He kept his eyes on Baz, ready for any kind of movement from him. “I’m so sorry to have wrecked your plans.”
“I think I didn’t finish the job because I didn’t really want to. You know the drill. Two to the chest. One to the head. I couldn’t do it.” Baz took a long breath. “I knew it was a mistake the minute I walked out, but I couldn’t make myself go back and finish the job.”
He was supposed to feel sympathetic because Baz had only shot him once? Had only taken out one of his lungs? “What are you doing here?”
He needed to get his hands on him. He could wrestle him to the ground and…what? Get him to HQ? The British Transport Police would show up and he didn’t exactly carry an SIS card on him. They would both get shoved into lockup while things got sorted out.
“I told you. We need to talk.”
That would be a mistake. Baz was a snake. One didn’t sit about and talk to a snake. One stepped on it before it managed to bite. “We have nothing to talk about.”
His smile was back. “I think we do. We need to have a sit-down, and if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll have to do something drastic to convince you. I’ve been watching you. You like the girl. Let’s talk about what happened to the last girl you fancied. Jane. I think that was her name. She was prettier than this one. You’re slumming, mate.”
Damon had been the one to bury Jane. She hadn’t had any family past the one she’d found at The Garden. He’d trained her, hired her to work, allowed her to live in the building. He’d fucked her when it was convenient. He certainly hadn’t loved her, but he’d been fond of the girl. She’d been his responsibility, under his care, and Baz had taken her life because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.