Page 40 of Croatia Collateral

Dax scrambled through his brain for some way to stall, a way that would allow him to leave the command center and report what he’d learned.

With all the Nexus Collective members staring at him, he was trapped.

If he tried to make a run for it, he wouldn’t get past the door fast enough. Yamaguchi or Rabinovich would have the Russian guards on him in a heartbeat.

He clapped his hands together. “Okay, then. Let’s get started.”

Yamaguchi waved a hand toward the plexiglass-enclosed room.

“You’ve done an excellent job so far,” Dax said. “You should have the pleasure of firing the test pulse.”

The woman’s brow creased. “You know I can not. The device can only be accessed by the man who created it. You are the only one who can access the controls you had shipped here. The biometric scanner will respond to your fingerprint and your iris alone.”

He forced a smile. “Just as I planned and programmed.” Dax shot a glance toward the others. “No one but me can set off that EMP.”

So, now they would expect him to do just that.

Holy hell.

The door they’d entered through suddenly slid open. One of the burly escorts stepped through and spoke in Russian to Rabinovich. His words were too fast for Dax to catch all of them. The few words he did get were…prisoner, woman and what should he do.

Rabinovich turned to Yamaguchi. “My men captured a woman looking around the exterior entrance and brought her into the compound.”

Red stained Yamaguchi’s stoic face, and her eyes flashed. Instead of yelling at the Russians, she folded her hands together. “Bring her to me.”

Galeotti threw up a hand. “You cannot allow her inside the command center. She will see what we have done.”

The only emotion the Japanese woman displayed was a slight tightening of her mouth. “It does not matter what she sees. She will never leave.”

Dax froze, his heart sinking to the pit of his belly as his two escorts appeared with a kicking, struggling person held between them. They were flanked by two more Russian guards.

“Let me go, you muscle-bound meatheads! I told you. I was looking for my fiancée, and he will be very angry at the way you’re treating me.”

“Let her go,” Yamaguchi said.

A quick command from Rabinovich and the two men released their hold.

The woman dropped to her knees and nearly crashed face-first on the ground. One of the Russians placed a hand on her shoulder, steadied her and then yanked the bag from her head. Dark hair tumbled down around her shoulders.

She looked up at Dax and glared. “Evan Maas, you rat bastard, are you cheating on me?”

Chapter 9

Giva was still kicking herself for being so stupid as to be caught by a couple of Russian weightlifters. She should have been paying more attention to her surroundings than to the footprints illuminated by the black light.

Once she was inside the compound, it was too late for regrets. She had to come up with a reason to be snooping around. When she’d seen Dax standing next to the Japanese woman, she’d said the first thought that had come to her.

“Of all the women you could have, and you choose some old Asian lady?” She pushed to her feet and held out her wrists bound with zip ties. “Look, I don’t care who you leave me for. Tell them to untie these plastic thingies, and I’ll be on my way. I shouldn’t have come to this dusty old town anyway. I wanted to go to Monaco. But nooo. You had to come to Croatia.” She thrust her hands toward his face. “Get these off me now.”

“Let her go,” Dax said to Rabinovich. “She’s not a threat.”

One of the Russian heavies held up two sets of throwing knives.

Rabinovich cocked an eyebrow. “If she is not a threat, why is she armed?”

Giva snorted. “They were a gift from Evan.”

“That’s right,” Dax said. “She can never be too prepared for an attack. You don’t know how many times someone has tried to kidnap her to hold her for ransom.”

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