Ultimate Surrender (13 page)

I
t had been one
, maybe two hours, and they had been the absolute longest of Cassandra’s life. It was weird, because she’d been thinking of everything and at the same time nothing at all, almost suspended in a state of animation, stuck in purgatory and at the complete mercy of things beyond her control.

Which was why, when she heard the familiar chime of her cell phone, she didn’t immediately react.

Instead she stared at it as it laid on Lucian’s coffee table vibrating and lighting up, the notes sounding loud, jangly, far too normal, cheerful, for her current circumstances in the thickly silent room.

She watched it as though it was a foreign object, as though it wasn’t attached to her most of the time.

But a moment later, the spell broke and she reached for it on instinct.

“Wait!”

She froze, looked over at Miller as he stared at her suspiciously. “Answer that. Don’t try anything.”

Cassandra said nothing, though the question “What can I try?” sat on the tip of her tongue. It was a cell phone. What did he think she would do with it?

Deciding then that that particular discussion was going nowhere, she kept her thoughts to herself and reached for the phone, the weight familiar in her hand, the number splashed across the front of it unfamiliar.

When she reached for the green button, the phone stopped ringing, and a crushing disappointment came over her. It was short-lived, though, because the phone immediately started to ring again, and this time Cassandra didn’t tarry. She pushed the green button and brought the phone to her ear, but spoke tentatively.

“Hello?”

The word came out a breathy whisper, the voice she spoke in not one she recognized as her own.

“Cassie—”

Hearing his voice, the hated nickname that she had fought so hard against, threatened to break her resolve, made something come loose in her chest, and she felt an explosion of warmth, tears of relief and sadness all rolled into one.

Hearing his voice also lifted her weighted heart, gave her a surge of energy that reminded her who she was. But hearing his voice didn’t change the fact that she was here with Miller.

“Lucian, I—”

She cut off when the phone was wrenched from her hand.

Miller glared at her for a moment but then turned and began his irregular pacing again as he spoke into the phone.

“Lucian? Lucian Silver, I presume?”

He paused, listening, and Cassandra moved toward him, straining to hear everything that transpired.

She didn’t, though, only heard muffled sounds, trying to convince herself that it was Lucian’s voice, but knowing that she couldn’t be sure.

“The man himself. I kinda wish you were here.”

Miller lifted a brow.

“Why? Why do I wish you were here?” He repeated the question with as much agitation as Cassandra had heard all day.

“Your friend here watched my sister die, asshole. It might be nice to repay that favor.”

Elton paused and turned, listening intently to what Cassandra presumed was Lucian speaking.

Then, he lifted his eyes to her, narrowed his darkening gaze on her. “You ready to talk? If not, I’d be happy to talk to Ms. Portersen instead.”

He looked away, but not before he smiled triumphantly.

“So I see we have your attention.”

He walked to the enormous bank of windows. “You’re out there, watching?” He paused a moment, then said, “No answer?”

He waited again. “You don’t have to answer. I think I know well enough that you see me. But take a good look.” Then he reached into his pocket, retrieved what looked to be a cell phone. “And while you’re at it, take a look at this,” he said, wiggling the device back and forth.

“I may not have had your attention before, but I’m certain I have it now. Now, let’s talk,” he said.

“Tell me that’s not what it looks like,” Seth said.

“What does it look like?” Adam said.

“Looks like a detonator to me,” Seth said.

“Then it is what it looks like,” Adam said.

While he spoke, Lucian looked through the binoculars, agreeing with the assessment.

It was a detonator, or the damn finest imitation he’d ever seen, and Lucian’s gut twisted hard, fear threatening to take his breath away.

“What do you plan to do with that?” Lucian finally asked into the phone when he could breathe again.

Miller laughed, which made Lucian want to choke him even more than he already did.

“What does one usually do with detonators?” Miller asked.

Lucian didn’t answer the rhetorical question, but then again he didn’t have to. They had known he’d have something, but this…

“What do you want?” Lucian grated out through clenched teeth. Seeing the detonator had made him afraid, but hearing Miller’s voice, the threat in it, made him so angry he could hardly breathe.

“I’ll let you know. I still need to talk to Cassandra,” he said.

“You motherfuck—”

The line was disconnected and Lucian squeezed the phone, tempted to crush it, if only to alleviate some of the boiling rage.

“Hold it together, Silver,” Adam said gruffly as he peeled the phone from Lucian’s hands. Then he turned. “You hold the phone from now on, kid,” he told Seth. Then he looked back to Lucian. “And you need to go take a walk,” he said.

“A walk? That fucker has Cassandra and a bomb. What the fuck is a walk going to do?”

“And what the fuck is you losing your shit gonna do? So take a walk or stay and deal with me,” Adam said.

He put the phone down and now squared up to face Lucian.

Lucian knew that Adam wasn’t going to back down and he also knew what his old friend said was true.

He did need to calm down, and losing his shit wouldn’t help Cassie.

So he did as suggested, or ordered, and did a lap around the unfinished penthouse floor, turning the thought over in his mind. Less than two minutes later, he returned to where Seth and Adam stood huddled at the windows, still watching through binoculars.

“Any idea what this is about?” Seth asked when he returned.

“Not entirely sure, but I don’t think this is about Tammy. Not entirely, anyway,” Lucian said, focusing on the facts and not the emotion that threatened to choke him. The facts, at least, he could understand.

“What? You think Tammy was a front?” Adam asked.

Lucian shook his head. “We looked into her. She was troubled, but he doesn’t seem to have those same troubles,” he said.

“So Cassandra is just an accident?” Seth said.

“Or maybe an unexpected opportunity for him. Without knowing how involved he was in his sister’s life, we can’t say for sure whether he knew about Cassandra. But once he found out about her and Silver Industries, he may have seen a chance.”

“So this is a good old-fashioned negotiation,” Adam said.

“Yeah, except Cassie is the bargaining chip,” Lucian said, not even wanting to say it but knowing that ignoring the facts wouldn’t change them and that thinking this situation through was the only way he could reach the only acceptable conclusion.

“What’s the price?” Seth asked.

“Not certain, but if I had to guess, I’d say access to Silver Industries’ servers,” Lucian said.

As he spoke, a heavy weight settled in his gut.

Adam snorted. “I don’t even have access to those servers or the deep, dark secrets inside them,” he said.

“Me either. I’d bet access would go for a pretty penny, though,” Seth said.

Seth and Adam’s conversation gave voice to the thought Lucian couldn’t escape.

“I don’t think our friend is out for vengeance,” Adam said.

“I don’t think he is either,” Lucian said, his voice solid but his insides shaking.

“Which means…” Seth said.

“Which means Cassandra is stuck with a psycho terrorist who wants something I can’t give him, and he’ll do anything it takes to get me to change my mind.”

A
bomb
.

She was in this room with this man and a bomb.

Cassandra looked around as surreptitiously as she could, searching for it, wanting to see it, though she couldn’t say why. It certainly wouldn’t make her feel better, but seeing the bomb was a desperate need.

“Over here, sweetheart,” Miller said, looking at her knowingly.

“I don’t see anything,” she said.

Her voice was stronger, and the sound was in direct opposition to how she’d felt when he held up that small black device. The pit in her stomach had gotten impossibly deeper, and the already precarious situation became much worse. And then when he spoke, confirmed that it was a detonator, it took everything inside of her not to try to run, even though she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere.

“Don’t you love inquisitive minds? Those with the time to dedicate themselves to making munitions smaller and smaller with each passing year?”

He patted his pocket and Cassandra flinched, noting that he didn’t take any particular care with it.

He smiled. “Don’t worry, Ms. Portersen, this is very, very stable. Unless of course I have to push this button. Which I hope, for both our sakes, I don’t,” he said.

Cassandra looked away then, but turned back when he began pacing, watching him, considering the bizarreness of the situation. But Cassandra stayed silent, knowing that there was nothing she could say in this situation.

What she did know was that what she had thought before was a difficult situation had gotten much worse. She’d held out hope that Miller was something else, that maybe he simply wanted money, or even revenge, but the chill that crept over her skin told her how wrong she had been.

His eyes looked like his sister’s now. What she had thought was emptiness was certainty, fervor, not as warm as Tammy’s, but just as intense.

Cassandra looked away, her stomach dropping, and what little faith she had had that she would make it through this day began to crumble.

Another fifteen minutes passed by with excruciating slowness, but Lucian held himself together. Miller was playing straight out of the playbook, and he knew that this time was only designed to make them squirm, to make him think about all the terrible things that might happen to Cassandra.

Miller was softening him up, letting him imagine the worst before he made his offer. It was exactly what Lucian would’ve done were their roles reversed, and he wouldn’t fall for it.

No matter how hard it was to stay strong.

Because the detonator was one thing, but they had bigger problems.

Cruz had found at least three caches of plastic explosives strategically placed around the building. He’d left them in place, uncertain as to whether there were more, and what effect moving one would have on the others. The last thing they wanted was an accidental detonation, especially before they had a chance to determine where any other explosives had been placed.

That alone was enough to make the situation excruciating, but thinking of Cassandra alone with Miller…

He tried to keep himself from going there, knew that Adam and Seth were doing the same, but it was difficult, nearly impossible.

Because whatever happened, it wouldn’t be slow. Miller might not be sadistic. Lucian didn’t have enough information to make that determination. But what he definitely wasn’t was stupid, so he wouldn’t just kill her, getting rid of all his leverage in one shot. No. He’d make her suffer, make her suffer for so long, Lucian wouldn’t have a choice but to give him exactly what he wanted.

And the thing was, he couldn’t say for sure he wouldn’t. Didn’t know how he’d respond to the sight of Cassandra suffering. Wasn’t sure he wouldn’t open up the doors to the damn Department of Defense himself to spare her a moment’s pain.

That was what Miller was banking on.

“We need to call this in,” Seth said.

Adam said nothing, but his silence was agreement.

“No fuckin’ way,” Lucian said.

“Yeah. I know. You need to call this in,” Seth said.

He knew the kid was right, but that didn’t mean he appreciated the intrusion.

“I’m not going to have some incompetent bureaucrat fuck this up and get Cassandra killed,” he said.

“Yeah. Me either. We need to call this in,” Seth said.

Lucian bit back the growing frustration. It was that persistence, that unwavering sense of right and wrong, that had proven Seth’s value and talent, but right now those characteristics were proving irritating as fuck.

“Yeah,” Lucian said, saying the only thing he could muster.

Seth heard and looked at him almost with pity, barely managing to keep his expression neutral.

“I have a couple buddies at Homeland. I’ll call them. Ask that they be discreet about this for a little while,” he said.

“Thanks, Seth,” he said. And then nodded.

He appreciated the gesture, he really did. But there was not a lot they could do. Explosives on American soil would trigger an all-out response, and while there would be no malice directed at Cassandra, her safety would not be the primary concern.

In truth, it wouldn’t be a concern at all.

He knew the other men in this room knew that, knew Cassandra probably knew that, but Miller also knew it, which meant this would come to an end one way or another, and soon.

The phone rang as if to confirm Lucian’s thought, and he reached quickly to grab it, only to be intercepted by Adam.

Lucian looked at the other man quizzically. “What—”

“You’re too close to this, Silver. Let the kid handle it,” Adam said.

Lucian went to protest, but Seth had picked up the phone.

“Hello,” he said.

Unprofessional, certainly not what Seth had been taught, but Lucian immediately picked up the direction he was going.

It was clear that Miller knew the playbook, so it was time to change the strategy, and Seth’s informal greeting was the first step in the plan to doing that.

Adam dropped his hold on Lucian’s arm and moved to join Seth, but Lucian stayed back, listening, though, ever conscious of what was being said.

“Seth Faber. I work with Silver Industries,” Seth said.

He stood, tense, hunched over the phone, but his voice was silky smooth, not betraying anything beyond idle curiosity at most.

“You’re Elton Miller,” Seth said after a moment.

“I’m sure you already established that.” The voice came across the line strong, as though the man stood in the room, which was something Lucian wished was the case.

“Never hurts to be certain,” Seth said.

“And if I say I am, will you believe me?”

“They say trust is the most necessary element for any relationship,” Seth shot back.

“That what this is? A relationship?”

“It is. You have someone we care about, and it’s obvious you want something in exchange. That’s a relationship, which is going to require trust.”

“Such as?” Miller said.

“We need some guarantees Cassandra is okay before this goes any further,” Seth said.

His voice had firmed ever so slightly, taking the initial interaction from loose, relaxed, to much more focused.

“You can see her, I’m sure,” Miller said.

“We need assurances,” Seth said, neither confirming nor denying they had eyes on the condo. Smart.

“Hold on a moment.”

The line went dead silent, but was soon filled with the most precious sound. “Hello?”

A single word from Cassandra’s voice was enough to both reground Lucian and remind him of what was at stake.

“Cass, you hanging in there?”

“Seth.”

“Yeah. It’s me. Hang tight, okay?”

“O-okay,” she said.

Lucian could hear the effort it took for her to keep her voice calm. Again she displayed the strength he knew was so much a part of her.

“Okay, that’s enough conversation.”

“Thank you,” Seth said.

Bile burned at the back of Lucian’s throat at the prospect of Seth thanking Miller for anything, but he knew what the purpose was. Outright antagonism wouldn’t get them anywhere.

“You’re quite welcome. Now, where’s the man in charge?”

“Elton, I’m not good enough for you?” Seth asked, feigning hurt.

“Don’t take it personally. I need to know that I have someone who is authorized to make decisions.”

Seth looked over at Lucian, then Adam. After a moment, they nodded.

“I’m here,” Lucian said.

“Good,” Miller said. Then he chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever had an employer who’d go to such lengths for me. Am I to assume that Ms. Portersen is someone special to you?”

“Just assume that you’ll be very sorry if anything happens to her,” Seth said, speaking before Lucian could.

Probably for the best, because the stream of threats and anger that were on the verge of erupting from him would not help.

“Don’t know if you’re in a position to make statements like that, Seth,” Miller said, his voice tight, though Lucian could hear the wavering rage in it and wondered how long Miller would be able to keep that anger under control.

“Even still, I want to make sure you understand,” Seth said.

“I do. I do understand. I want you to do the same,” he said.

Then the line went silent and as one they looked through the glass at Lucian’s home. Miller stood in front of the window, holding something in his hand.

Seth reached over and pushed the mute button. “Plastique?”

Adam nodded.

“How many units in that building, Silver?”

“One hundred and sixty units, plus the retail space on the first floor.”

“And so many others in the surrounding buildings, because somehow I don’t think Cruz found his whole stash,” Seth added.

“Then we’re looking at a pretty substantial explosion should it come to that,” Adam added quickly.

“Hundreds of people. Maybe more,” Seth said.

“Yeah,” Lucian said.

There was nothing else to say, and the tension in the room intensified, thickened, became heavy with the potential for destruction. Lucian knew he was playing directly into Miller’s hands, but that awareness didn’t mean that he was able to fully choke back the fright that threatened to overcome him.

“So you understand, Seth?” Miller said.

“I do believe you’ve made your point,” he said.

“Good.”

“So, what do you want in exchange for not blowing up yourself, our friend, and hundreds of other innocent people?” Seth said.

“You know what, I think I’ll spare you the philosophical debate about innocents and cut right to the chase.”

Seth shrugged as if to say “thank God,” but he stayed silent.

“I want access to Silver Industries’ servers,” Miller said.

Before he’d even finished speaking, Seth shook his head.

“Assuming we gave you this access, what do you plan to do with that?”

“Seth, you seem like a pretty smart guy. I’m sure you can figure it out,” Miller said.

“Glad you think so, but you’re the first to be so confident in my intellect, so why don’t you explain it to me?” he said.

“As Ms. Portersen has so helpfully reminded me, she doesn’t have access to any classified information, and she swears Silver might not either. I doubt that, but ultimately, I don’t care, because those servers do. Once I’m in, who knows what I might find, what that information might be worth?”

Adam rolled his eyes, leaving no doubt as to where he stood on the issue. Seth stayed calm, and Lucian was distracted by something he saw in the corner of the penthouse.

“Do you have some more reasonable demands?” Seth asked.

“If ever there was a time not to be reasonable, this would be it, Seth,” Miller said.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Now is most certainly the time to be reasonable. You want to walk away from this. Live your life. Spread your message, whatever it might be,” he said.

“I do, but sometimes a man has to stand up, and this is one of those times. I am fully committed to seeing that I get that access. Willing to do what it takes, as Ms. Portersen and I have discussed. So give me access to the servers or pick the body part you think she can live without,” he said.

A gleam flashed just then, and Lucian looked toward his penthouse and even from this distance could see the wickedly sharp blade that Miller held in his hand.

If Lucian didn’t give Miller what he wanted, he knew Miller wouldn’t hesitate to use it.