Show Of Force. Elle James

to help Miss Lansing and her six-year-old little brother is to have me die. If not permanently, then for a short amount of time. Enough to give you and Riley a head start figuring out who has her brother and getting him back.”

      Refusing to release Riley, Mack faced the woman footing the bill for Declan’s Defenders. Her heart was in the right place for most things, but defending a woman out to kill her was just plain crazy. “I can’t let this woman go. If what you’re saying is true, she came here to kill you.” He frowned down at Riley. “How could you? This woman is responsible for saving your life.”

      Riley nodded. “Don’t you think I know that?”

      “Then why would you want to hurt her?” he asked.

      Her shoulders sagged. “I had no other choice.”

      Mack shook his head. “There are always more choices.”

      “Not when it comes to her little brother,” Charlie said.

      “Since when do you have a little brother?” Mack’s eyes narrowed. “You never mentioned a little brother.”

      Riley lifted her chin. “You don’t know me well enough to ask.”

      “Does your roommate Grace know you have a little brother?” Mack asked.

      Riley shook her head. “I don’t advertise that part of my life. I thought I had him hidden away. I didn’t think they would find out about him.” She threw her hand in the air. “Hell, I thought they’d forgotten I even existed.” She stared down at the arm clamped around her middle. “You can release me. I can’t kill Mrs. Halverson. I just can’t.”

      “Charlie,” the older woman corrected. “Call me Charlie.”

      Riley gave her a weak smile. “See? How could I kill someone who is as kind and generous as Charlie?” She held out her hand. “Please, let me have the pill. I can’t let it get into the wrong hands.”

      “Oh, but you’ve put it in exactly the right hands. I’m going to die tonight. And you’re going to save your little brother,” Charlie said.

      “You are out of your mind.” Mack released Riley and lunged for Charlie.

      She backed toward the door, a frown pulling her brows together. “Listen, you two. We don’t have much time.”

      Riley glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Time. Damn. I forgot. They gave me C-4 to set off as a diversion. I’m supposed to kill Mrs. Halverson and set off the explosive to create a diversion and allow me to escape. They’re expecting the explosion.”

      “Good.” Charlie smiled. “That will give us time to get my dead body out of the hotel and off to the morgue.” Her smile faded. “As long as the explosion doesn’t hurt anyone else.”

      “It shouldn’t. I didn’t use a lot of the explosive and I set it in a storeroom surrounded by other empty rooms. No one was there, and it was empty. No one should go back there.”

      “Wait a minute.” Mack held up his hand. “I can’t possibly be hearing this correctly. You can’t set off explosives in a crowded hotel. It will start a stampede. Even if the explosion doesn’t bring the walls down, the guests will rush for the doors and crush the people in front of them.” Mack shook his head. “No. No. No. This is insane. Besides, I can’t let you take that pill. If it’s poison, what antidote is there? We don’t even know what it is.”

      “I’m not going to take the pill, silly. I’m only going to pretend I did. You’ll call for an ambulance. They’ll wheel me out. Riley will escape and you’ll go with her to help her find Toby, her little brother.” Charlie drew in a deep breath and looked from Riley to Mack and back. “You see? All I have to do is lie dying in a hospital long enough for you two to find Toby and get him back.”

      Riley’s eyes narrowed. “The instructions said the poison was fast-acting.”

      “So I didn’t take all of it.”

      “They’ll wait to give me Toby until they know for certain you’re dead,” Riley said.

      “Money can buy just about anything,” Charlie pointed out. “Even a fake death certificate.”

      “But they’ll come looking for the body.”

      “So we’ll give them one in the morgue.”

      “You seem to be forgetting something,” Mack said.

      “Am I?” Charlie frowned. “What am I forgetting?”

      “You’re not dead. You don’t belong in a morgue until you are.”

      “Then you’ll just have to find the boy while I’m lying on my deathbed in the hospital.” Charlie crossed her arms over her chest.

      “I don’t like it,” Mack said. “Why don’t we go to the authorities and get them to find the boy?”

      “The people who have him are Russian,” Riley said. “They’re not going to let the authorities find them or my brother. They’ll move him out of the country. If they do, I’ll never find him. As it is, I don’t know where to begin looking. I don’t know who my handler is.” Riley’s shoulders sagged. “Some Russian spy I am. I can’t even take care of my own brother.”

      “Don’t worry,” Charlie said. “Follow my plan. Poison me, set off your explosion, let me play the dying matriarch and see what happens from there. What could it hurt? You get a few days’ grace, and I get a rest in my husband’s wing of the hospital. I can’t see where this could possibly go wrong.” She waved toward Riley. “Go ahead. Set off your explosion. You’ll see.”

      Mack wasn’t quite as sure as Charlie. And he’d rather have brought his men in to discuss what was going to happen, but Charlie had it in her head that her plan would work long enough for him and Riley to save her brother. She wouldn’t be deterred.

      “Where’s the detonator?” Charlie asked.

      Riley pointed to the ornamental hair clip lying on the counter near the sink. “But—”

      “The longer you wait, the more suspicious your handler will become,” Charlie pointed out. “Just do it and we’ll take it from there.”

      “I don’t know.” Riley worried her handler would see through the plan.

      “Have you worked with C-4 before now?” Mack asked.

      Riley nodded. “But it’s been years. Back when I lived with my parents. Before I went to college.”

      Mack gaped. “As a teen?”

      Riley frowned. “I told you. I was trained to be a Russian sleeper spy. My parents prepared me for just about anything.”

      “I thought you were just an engineer...” He clapped a hand to his forehead. “Selling secret blueprints to your comrades?” He shook his head. “You were the one selling the top secret data to the Russians from Quest Aerospace?”

      “No, of course not. I thought I was in the clear. That when my parents died, their handlers would forget about me.” She snorted. “I was just another loyal American, trying to do good. Well, they didn’t forget about me. They drew my number and tasked me to kill Mrs. Halverson.”

      “Charlie,” the widow corrected.

      “Charlie,” Riley echoed. “They’re using my brother as an insurance policy. They didn’t give me a choice.”

      “Are you sure about the amount of plastics you used?” Mack asked.

      “Pretty.” She drew in a deep breath. “It should make a loud noise and shake the walls but not cause too much damage or a fire.”

      “For the record...” He caught Charlie’s glance. “I don’t like any of this.”

      “So noted.” Charlie gave him a mock salute.