Page 79 of Fire and Ice

"I guess you know him."

"What does Viktor say?"

"Well, Viktor and the other Guardians didn't want to tell us more. They said it was your play."

"How many are we talking about?" Maia asked.

"Four," Jack answered, putting Derek's phone on speaker. "What the hell is going on here, Maia? And you better tell me the truth or I swear I'm going to haul your ass out of there and pack you out of Baltimore if I have to."

"Jack, seriously, you're a pain in the ass."

"Maia, damn it, I'm not messing around! These men look like Russian Special Forces. Just give us the word and we'll contain them."

"No! Let it play out."

"What?"

"They're after Reznikov."

"Christ! Are we heading for a shoot-out at the conference?"

"Of course not. I'm thinking they're looking for Reznikov. Put someone on them. We can use them to track him."

Silence.

"Jack, leave them alone."

"Fuck."

"Jack..."

"All right! We'll leave them alone ... for now."

"Thank you. Now if you would both excuse me, I have a gala to prepare for."

***

Maia stepped into the Grand Harbor Ballroom dressed in a teal, sleeveless wrap around dress. It had a deep v-neckline that teased at the lacy edges of her strapless bra and the hem was a couple of inches above her knee. She was wearing cream, spiked heels and wore no jewelry except for the gold bangles on her wrist. She knew she was dressed suggestively as she mingled with the other attendees. More than once, some forward male decided to cop a feel of her ass especially in an especially crowded group, some more discreetly than others. This became more apparent as the evening wore on and the drinks kept flowing.

Maia moved to another group until she positioned herself at a cocktail table close to the stage. Not too close, just enough to be recognized by Lee. Thankfully she was flanked between an older woman and a young man who looked so timid he couldn't even look at her.

"I hear the entertainment is fantastic tonight," the woman gushed. "They certainly don't skimp at these conferences."

"They sure don't," Maia murmured as she took a sip of her cosmopolitan.

The emcee started the program for the evening by welcoming the attendees from different countries. The show was kicked off by an energetic dance number followed by a set from a popular female soloist. Then there was a break for a raffle draw, a typical event at such conferences. Maia was getting restless. She felt a knot in her stomach wondering how she would react to seeing Lee again.

"And now, for our main attraction tonight let me present to you Baltimore's local pride, Ezra Crows!"

There was thunderous applause, whistles and cheering. Obviously, the crowd was pumped up for tonight's headliner.

The dimmed lights on stage were turned up suddenly to reveal the band. The crowd went wild. It was then Maia saw him.

Lee Isaac. He was wearing a white t-shirt, low-waisted torn jeans and biker boots. His dark brown hair, which was longer than she remembered, brushed his shoulders. He was as beautiful as ever. He was tall, about 6'1", and lean and lanky, a typical rock star build. The young female fans who were gathered right in front of the stage were screaming so loud, Maia thought some of them were going to faint.

Ezra Crows started their set with one of their energetic rock numbers. The band immediately followed this with a slow ballad. Lee still had the voice of an angel and it had not lost the power to hold her enthralled. As the song reached its chorus, Maia realized belatedly that it was the same piece of music he had been working on during one of their vacations together. It felt bittersweet to be listening to it now. She closed her eyes as she recalled that day on the beach. He was having a blast writing it, scribbling, singing a few lines, both of them laughing when it didn't sound right. Maia's eyes shot open when she heard him suddenly stumbling over the lyrics. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw his shocked brown eyes focus on her before turning away from the crowd to concentrate on strumming his guitar in his attempt to regain his composure. His band mates were frowning at him. When he turned back to face the audience, he started singing flawlessly again. He was fighting the urge to look in her direction, but in the end he only had eyes for her.

After his set, Maia wanted to flee. That voice, that voice had unlocked a hum of emotions and memories that threatened to overwhelm her. She decided to head for the bar to get another drink. Apparently everyone else had the same idea so even with three bars set up in the ballroom, it was three people deep by the time she got there.

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