Page 119 of When He Lies
Nana…
“Nana is safe. Operatives recovered her two minutes before I walked in the door to this room.”
A sob tore from her. “Don’t you dare be lying to me.”
Ryan hauled her against him, holding her tightly. “She’s safe, and we’re going to get Logan. Then we’re going to lock Konstantin away. I have a plan.”
Her eyes squeezed tightly shut. She held onto him with all of her strength. She loved this man. So much.
A throat cleared. Not Ryan’s. Not hers…
Simone’s eyes flew open. She craned her head around Ryan and saw the figure in the doorway. It was not the agent Ryan had kicked out moments before.
Instead, Jezebel inclined her head toward Simone. “Ryan meant to say that we have a plan. Our plan will require your cooperation.”
Ah, that word again. “Can I get a weapon in return for my cooperation? Because that would be outstanding.”
Jezebel quirked one brow. “I have just the thing for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Simone rushed back to the waiting black Bentley. The driver stood at attention near the vehicle, and when he saw her approaching, he immediately opened the rear door for her. She dove into the vehicle.
“Did you get it?” Konstantin demanded eagerly.
She lifted up the egg and tossed it toward him. Not the real egg, of course. Turned out that the CIA had a very close look-alike in their secret site. Ryan had told her that the CIA had prepared several fakes before he’d done his swap at Frederick’s country estate. Spies did like to plan ahead.
“What are you doing?” Frantic, he grabbed it. Caught it in desperate fingers. “Do you know how much this egg is worth?”
“I have a really good idea.” Not nearly close to thirty million. The CIA had not let her get near the original. What had they thought? That her sticky fingers might take it for good?
“Where is the chip?” Konstantin demanded. “Did anyone see you?”
She sucked in her right cheek. It still ached. “I figure I’m dead now. My usefulness to you is at an end. You’re going to shoot me and probably Logan.” The driver was making his way around the vehicle. But he wasn’t inside, not just yet. And that was why… “Act fast, Logan,” she yelled to the silent figure in the front passenger seat. “They don’t have Nana any longer!”
Logan erupted. He shoved open his door even as she was thrusting open the back passenger door, too. The driver rushed back toward Logan, but Logan was ready. And furious. Logan began pounding his fist into the driver’s face. Over and over again. Logan took him down to the pavement and pummeled him.
Konstantin’s hands grabbed for Simone’s back. She twisted and heaved away from him, hearing the material of her dress tear, and then Simone yanked her weapon from the pocket of her dress. She truly adored a dress with pockets. The weapon that she pulled out? A flashbang. The perfect weapon that Jezebel had given to Simone. All Simone had needed was to get close enough to Konstantin, to preferably have him trapped in the vehicle when she deployed her weapon. He’d never even realized she had it, not with the device tucked into her pocket and resembling the size and shape of the flashlight she’d had before.
She loved pockets.
“Choke on it, asshole!” Simone activated and threw the small flashbang into the Bentley. She slammed the passenger door shut and ran.
A huge part of her had been terrified to carry the flashbang. It was a freaking grenade, after all. But Jezebel had emphasized that it was a stun grenade. No shrapnel. Non-lethal, because Jezebel wanted Konstantin brought in alive. Simone didn’t particularly care about him being brought in alive. She just wanted him stopped. Jezebel had promised that the stun grenade would stop him.
“Simone!” Logan’s voice. “What are you?—
The flashbang erupted. The loud blast reverberated behind her, and Simone found herself falling to her knees. The hard road tore through her dress and scraped off her skin. Dazed, she looked back. She’d been promised a boom, big flashes, and disorientation so that the agents could swarm and take down Konstantin.
Konstantin hung half-in, half-out of the rear passenger door. His hands had slapped down against the pavement. His head sagged in front of him.
“You fucking sonofabitch!” Ryan tore past Simone. He grabbed Konstantin…and started pounding the hell out of him. “You hit her! You took her!”
Konstantin didn’t fight back. He seemed too dazed.
Simone pushed to her feet. She thought she might have just seen a few of Konstantin’s teeth hitting the road. Yes, yes, that definitely looked like two bloody teeth not too far away from her. “Uh, Ryan?”
“You kidnapped Simone! You were going to kill Simone? My Simone?”
