Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (37 page)

Tony leaned in. “Looks
to me like you’re bothering her.” Finger marks welted on Lumina’s translucent
skin, and he considered breaking the guy’s arm. Her eyes darted between them.
“Think it’s time for you t
o hit the road, friend.”

“Do you know who I
am?” the guy yelled, anger romping in his eyes.

Tony got nice and
personal with his ear. “I do. You’re the guy who’s going to the hospital if you
don’t…back…the…fuck…away from her.” He leaned back just enough so
the guy could see his eyes. Although the guy strained to
pull his hand away, he wasn’t making any progress. Tony released his grip and
the guy staggered back a step.

“Later,” he shouted at
Lumina, and stormed through the crowd.

“Hey, I’m…” He paused
when h
is gaze locked with hers. Whoa, what the hell
was that? He thought, feeling a definite deep impact. “Anthony,” he finished.
Something stopped him from giving her a Tom, Dick or Harry name. She nodded
slightly, but didn’t offer hers. The girl knew how to gi
ve a killer look. She didn’t flinch or flicker. She had a steadfast stare
that actually unnerved him. He raised a brow. “And you’re…?”

“Wondering what you
want,” she said, continuing to stare him down with those incredible eyes.

He raised both hands.
“Just
saying
hi, honey.”

“Not your honey,
honey,” she said.

Okay, a few hackles
raised.
Couldn’t blame her after
the old guy had manhandled her.
Time to deploy the Anthony Bale charm.
“Listen,” he leaned in to her ear to be
heard over the loud music. “You’re Lu
mina, correct?”

“No.”

His cheek stroked hers
and her soft skin transmitted a distinct message to the man inside him. A
faint, indistinguishable smell curled into his senses. No cloying perfume or
hair product stopped his breathing, just her enticing smell:
sweet and sensual. “I think you are,” he growled in her
ear. His hand had its own intentions and it came to rest on her hip. He didn’t
miss the slight ripple under her skin with his touch, and his pants were
becoming increasingly tight.

“Lumin,” she
corrected. Her voice was soft and perfect in pitch against
his ear. “The ‘A,’” she clarified, “is my middle name. Alana. The casino uses
Lumina for the show, thought it had a nicer ring to it.”

Even her name was
magical. He breathed in heavily to center hi
mself.
“It’s a beautiful name, and it matches the woman.” She moved back a step, her
eyes a little wider, her pupils dilated. “I’m looking for someone, Lumin. A
little girl’s life depends on it. I’m hoping you can help me find him.”

She searched his eyes.
“Who are you looking for?”

When she leaned in to
speak, her breasts pressed against his chest. Self-control kicked in and
stopped him from grasping her waist and drawing her sleek body against him. His
own body had gone rock-hard. He couldn’t stop it, but
he
had to control it. “A man named Pedro Quadero.”

Lumin’s expression
altered to wary. “What does a little girl have to do with a drug lord?”

Tony considered
telling her some bullshit story, but the truth poured out. “Her father is a
bastard and owes this
guy a lot of money.
Gambling, as far as we know.
He’s taken her hostage and wants to pay
his debt with her ransom.”

“What an asshole.”
Lumin blinked. “How old is she?”

“Eight. Her name is
Gabriella…I call her squirt. I owe her another play date, and I’m go
ing to deliver.”

A smile graced her
lips, and blue eyes twinkled under the club lights. He didn’t even realize he’d
leaned close enough that their lips almost touched. “My buddy Mace is her
mother’s boyfriend and my best friend. We need to find Pedro. Squi
rt and her asshole father shouldn’t be far away. He’s
holding both of them until we deliver the money.”

“Then why don’t you?”
she asked.

“Because
it’s
extortion and we don’t give in to
terrorists, plus we have no guarantee he’ll let squirt go.”

“You sound
like a cop or something.”

“Not exactly, ma’am.”

He felt a delicate
hand grab his, and she pulled him through the crowd, swinging hip to hip on the
dance floor toward the bathrooms. They pushed through a door which led into a
hallway buffered from the music
.

“If
you’re not the police, then who?
Pedro is one of, if not the most dangerous man in this
town.” She backed up against the wall, putting a little breathing space between
them.

He placed a hand on
either side of her shoulders, and resisted the overwhelm
ing desire to taste her very kissable, pale, rose-colored lips. “Lumin, I
don’t want to put you in danger. I just need you to point me in the right
direction. If we can find squirt, we’ll be in and gone within minutes. The only
person who’ll be paying a pr
ice is her father. Squirt
deserves a good father and my buddy Mace is that guy.”

Lumin’s expression was
all sorts of concerned. “I don’t know where Pedro is, but I know someone who
does. Give me an hour and then meet me at the east entrance with a car. I d
on’t have one.”

“Okay,
sweetheart.”
He paused, and his gaze dropped to her lips. The reaction in his pants was
instantly hard, and even in the darkened corridor he saw the blush on her
cheeks. “Thank you.” Neither of them moved. His mind went blank, but bo
iler room heat began a flash fire in his chest and he
blinked as possessive nerves began to spark all over him. “I’ll see you in an
hour.” He wanted…what did he want? He dropped one arm and she slid away. He
watched her disappear down the corridor. With gr
aceful,
quick steps she vanished, but something didn’t vanish: her essence, it stuck to
him like sand on a wet body.

Chapter Twenty-one

“How can we trust some
Vegas showgirl?” Nina mumbled, walking in small circles. Mace slid an arm
around her waist
to stop her nervous pacing.

Nina had called her
parents and explained everything. They wanted to fly to Vegas, but she stopped
them by reassuring them they would get Gabriella back.

“Tinman has a sixth
sense when it comes to people, Nina. If he thinks
Lumin
can help, he’s probably right.”

“Why would she involve
herself? She doesn’t know us?”

“Because she’s a
decent woman,” Tony interjected, a hot spark of protection igniting to vouch
for Lumin.

“Thanks for the vote
of confidence,” he heard from behind h
im, and turned
around. Lumin appeared from behind a thick palm tree like a nymph appearing in
the forest. Mace and Nina swiveled as well. All four of them evaluated each
other.

“I’m Lumin Edenridge.”
She held her hand out to Nina, who eyed her warily then
took her hand.

“Thank you for helping
us, Lumin. I’m Nina Samson.”

“Mace
Callahan.
Wherever we’re going, let’s do it now.”

They piled in the car,
and Lumin guided them to the highway and out toward the desert.

Nina twisted. “Where
are we going?”

“I have so
me friends who know everyone important in Las Vegas. Good
and bad. Steven had to fight off Pedro himself not long ago. He’s a very
powerful man.”

“Who is he?” Mace
asked, shooting a quick glance in the rear view mirror.

“You were just in his
casino. Steven
Porter and his wife Moira live outside
of town.”

Lumin certainly knew
the right people, Tony thought to himself.

Twenty minutes later,
she guided them to an enormous mansion sprawled across the foothills of the
Nevada mountain range.

“Whoa, these guys hav
e a few coins in the piggy bank.” Mace uttered what they
were all probably thinking.

Lumin didn’t ring the
doorbell, but instead led them around the side of the majestic home and entered
in a side door. The laundry room was the size of half a normal house
in the ’burbs. Following Lumin, they entered a kitchen that
only the extremely rich could afford.

“Mina!” The screech of
two little toddlers in unison turned everyone’s head. She scooped them up and
gave them both a kiss as they strangled her in a big hug.

A man and woman sat at
an enormous antique wood table, etched with deep marks that only time and use
could create. The table alone must have cost thousands, never mind the
expensive cabinetry in a kitchen big enough to seat two SEAL teams. He presumed
the
man in the expensive suit with his tie loosened,
sitting with a glass filled with amber liquid, was Steven Porter. The beautiful
woman with kind eyes sitting beside him had to be Moira.

“Moira Porter,” the
woman said, rising and extending a hand. “Please,
have a seat. You all look like you need a good meal. Margarita is almost
finished preparing dinner.”

“Mace Callahan, ma’am,
and this
is
Nina Samson and Tony Bale.”

“Ma’am,” Tony said,
but didn’t take his eyes off Lumin, who twirled around the kitchen with
the children in her arms. She put the children down when
she saw him staring, and he was staring.

“Your
head on the mission or somewhere else?”
Mace growled into his ear.

“Welcome,” Steven
Porter said, and it carried a command to sit down as well as a gre
eting. All of them moved to the table. The guy reminded him
a little of Ghost: a big man, with a big voice and sharp, intelligent eyes that
noticed everything.

“Sir, we’re looking
for someone. Lumin says you know him,” Mace stated, sitting next to Nina.

“T
hat’s what Mina explained to us.” Steven Porter turned an
ice-blue, critical gaze on Nina. “Your daughter has been taken.”

“Yes,
sir.”
Nina leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “She’s been taken for
ransom to pay for a gambling debt.”

“By
your daughter’s father.”

“He hasn’t earned the
right to be her father. Until a short while ago, he didn’t know she existed. He
conned both of us.” Nina’s hand slid across the surface and grasped Mace’s
hand.

“You’re not law
enforcement,” Steven noted.

“They’re Navy,” Moira
Porter spoke up, and gave them an inquisitive look. “Special ops, is my guess.”

“Good guess.” Tony
nodded.

“My wife does that a
lot,” Steven added. “She was Coast Guard for many years, till I whisked her
away from Canada.”

“Hey, where
are you from?” Nina piped up.

“Vancouver.” Moira
took the place setting from Margarita.

“I’m from Victoria,”
Nina said.

“Esquimalt?”

“Yes,” Nina confirmed.
“Mace and Tony are U.S. Navy SEALs.”

“SEALs?”
Lumin gave Tony a wary smile. “That
explains a lot.”

Tony’s heart ticked
like a big clock in a silent room. For some reason when she said it or maybe
how she said it, he felt proud. No, not proud, over-fuckin’-joyed that she
seemed impressed with that.

Steven Porter pulled
his tie and Moira slid it from his
neck as if both
minds worked in sync without a word spoken. “I dealt with Pedro earlier this
year,” Steven explained. “He’s bad news in this town.
As bad as it gets.
The task of getting your daughter back
won’t be easy. He employs hundreds of men to cover
his
ass and do his dirty work. In consideration of your skills, you’re probably the
only people in this city who have a chance of getting her out unharmed. Pedro
is a heartless prick. What he wants, he gets, unless he’s up against someone
bigger and deadli
er.”

“That says something
about you, doesn’t it, sir?” Tony queried with a raised brow.

Moira’s expression
tightened,
and a purse of her lips gave the
answer. “Steven is not a patient man, especially when someone is trying to
blackmail him. Pedro has an ee
rie knack of finding
someone’s weak spot, or what he thinks is a weak spot.”

Mace slipped an arm
across Nina’s shoulder, and pulled her close to reassure her. “And did he?”
Mace asked.

“Not a viable one. My
brother, Kyle, had a rough start in life, but he’
s
conquered his demons. We played offense, which put Pedro at a disadvantage. I’m
proud of my brother’s accomplishments since he’s been clean from drugs. His
past is not mine. Pedro wove truth with a mountain of lies to extradite money
from Moira and me. H
e didn’t get very far, and I have
some allies in this city and LA. My biggest weakness is my wife and the twins.
Pedro tried to kidnap them as a second offensive maneuver. He failed. With
that, he was taken into custody and had an uncomfortable drive into
the desert. He’s stayed far away from us since then. Like
any bully, he’ll retreat if he thinks his chances are slim to none. I have no
doubt he’ll take advantage of an opportunity like any scavenger. Our lives have
still been affected by him. Keep that in
mind.”

“Daddy.”
The little girl who looked a lot like
her father, with blonde hair and big blue eyes, stretched her arms up.

Steven lifted and
cuddled her against his chest. “I’m sure your daughter is your world, and we’ll
help you get her back, Nina.” Hi
s little girl hugged
him and nestled herself in his arms. “If you want or need extra help, call me.
I’ll have it to you within minutes.”

“Thank you, Mr.
Porter.” Nina let out a breath and gave Mace a meaningful look.

“Don’t worry, babe,
we’ll have Gabbs ba
ck by tonight. Where does he keep
himself hidden, Mr. Porter?”
Mace asked.

“Margarita, pen and paper,
por favor
.”

“
Si, Señor
.”
Margarita, a woman reaching an age where
she should be retiring, hurriedly handed him what he’d asked for.

Steven wrote down an
address and slid it across the table. As Nina reached for it, he pulled it
back. “Pedro does not like to lose,” he warned. “Don’t let him know you’re here
or you’ll risk your daughter’s life. And before you go running off to save her,
you will have something to eat. You all look beat.
Margarita?”

“Dinner is ready,
Señor
Porter.”

Tony set his eyes on
Lumin, who had the other twin on her lap. The little boy played with the ends
of her ponytail draped across her slim shoulder. “Thank you,”
Tony mouthed.

A quick smile graced
her lips before being replaced by her benignly beautiful expression.

He wished he had more
time to get to know this woman, but squirt was top priority.

They ate hastily, and
within twenty minutes were standing at the doo
r
offering their thanks and a goodbye.

“Are you coming?” Tony
asked, seeing Lumin standing beside Moira.

She shook her head.
“Good luck.”

Nina and Mace were
already halfway down the stairs of the massive entrance. “Tinman,” Nina called.

“Thank you again,
Lumin. I hope…”

“Hurry,” she said and
nodded toward his friends.

He made it halfway
down the steps and although he resisted, he couldn’t help but turn around for
one last look. Moira and Steven had disappeared and Lumin was only a shadow on
the vast landin
g. “Who was that guy in the bar?”

“My
boss.”

“Tinman,” Nina yelled.

“She’s out of her mind
with worry. Go save her daughter.”

Tony took a step
upwards. Instinct pushed at him to stay and help her even though she wasn’t the
priority. That wasn’t SEAL mental
ity. “Will he hurt
you?”

“I can take care of
myself, Mr. Bale. Only the strong survive in Las Vegas. I’m not just a pretty
face.”

That, he’d already
figured out. Mace started the car with a heavy foot on the gas. “Be careful,
beautiful.” He took a last loo
k at her, and it
bothered him to think it would be the last. “I work at NAB Coronado. SEAL Team
One, Alpha Squad. If you ever need anything, call me. I owe you.”

Lumin raised a hand.
“Goodbye, Anthony.”

“Thanks Tinman, you
hit pay dirt,” Mace said turning
from the long
driveway that led to the deserted road after the gates swung open.

Nina turned on the
GPS.

“I know which way is
Vegas,” Mace said with a crinkle in his brow.

“I know that, Mace,
I’m programming in the address Mr. Porter gave us.”

“Right.
Sor
ry,” he
said sharply. His guts were tied in knots. Now he knew what Ghost must have
felt like when the Shark had taken Snow White. Tinman was one helluva SEAL, and
so was he, but he had a fleeting wish that Ghost was here with them. Mace’s
phone rang, and
he checked the caller before
answering. He’d had several pages from the base and so had Tinman. He was
surprised to see Lieutenant Cobbs on the display.
“Sir?”

“Where the
hell are
you, Mace?”