Page 8 of Fire and Ice

Jack couldn't find it in himself to go through the heartbreak of losing someone he loved again. He did care for his girlfriends and was a generous lover both financially and physically, but his emotional involvement was minimal. "I'm over that."

"No, you're not."

"What about you Derek? You're older than I am. Why don't you have a wife and three kids?" Jack shot back, getting irritated.

Derek was 41 years old, two years older than Jack. Dark blonde with brown eyes, he was physically built exactly like Jack - lean muscle and ruggedly handsome and was not lacking female company either.

"Point taken. But it's not because I can't commit. I just love women, different women."

"I can't keep track of your women. At least I'm monogamous."

Derek sighed. "We're hopeless. Maybe that's why we're such good friends."

Jack grinned and thumped Derek on the back as they entered his office.

"Let's stop commiserating like a couple of old women. Scotch?"

Derek's cell phone started buzzing.

"Lockwood."

Jack watched his friend listening intently to whoever was on the other end, and tensed when Derek's face lost all color. Not good.

"Fuck! What's her location?" Derek exploded. "No... no... I don't remember the fourth encryption protocol. My cell is secure. Damn it, Viktor, just give me the damn coordinates!"

Jack was already handing Derek a pen and paper.

"Gotcha." Derek ended the call, scribbling some numbers quickly.

"I need to go. I'm taking one of our fully-equipped SUVs"

"Need backup?" Jack offered quietly.

The two friends frequently "helped" each other out in situations outside the office.

Derek looked at Jack carefully as if contemplating what he was about to reveal.

"What's going on?" Jack pressed, an odd nagging fear crawling over his skin.

"Come on. I'll tell you on the way. Can't waste any more time."

CHAPTER TWO

Jack was furious. He and Derek sped through New Park City heading towards the warehouse district. Maia had called Viktor for backup because the Russian nut job she had burned in her last assignment had found her. AGS had known of this danger since the attack on the safe house which was five days ago. Jack wanted to know why her people had not tried harder to contain the situation. None of the ERTs were on alert right then and it would take an hour to mobilize them by which time it would be too late. Viktor called Derek: the MDI offices were twenty minutes away from the warehouse where Maia was holed-up in.

Jack shouldn't have waited to make his move on her. He'd been trying to get her contact information from Derek but his friend had been evading his subtle inquiries. He had also tried the Private Investigator route but that had turned out to be all false information. She was a ghost. This intrigued Jack. He had other resources of course, but he did not want to tap into those markers unless he had to, as it might have raised unnecessary questions. Besides, he would have bet most information on her would be covered under black marker anyway. Heck, he should have just sat on Derek's head until he gave him Maia's number.

Now Maia was in trouble.

"I don't know Viktor Baran personally, but I'm really, really pissed at him right now," Jack said through his teeth.

"I thought she'd already gone to ground. I know she took on Brett's protective detail because Viktor was keeping her off of international radar. Instead it exposed her to the very people she was trying to avoid. I don't know the whole story. I try not to get into AGS business and Maia doesn't share, but from what I've gathered these people are bad news and now they're Stateside."

Derek had worked for Viktor before, and that was how he had met Maia, so he generally knew how the company operated. His former boss also called him occasionally for favors.

Their black Escalade pulled up a block from the target location. Heading straight for the trunk, they armed themselves with semi-automatic weapons, ammunition and other essential assault gear. They then snuck up the remaining block, keeping close to the shadows.

There was a black panel van parked up ahead blocking Maia's convertible.

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