Page 85 of Fire and Ice

"Okay, take care then. Keep your eyes open. This thing just escalated."

Maia ended the call and handed the phone back to Jack.

"Rick Grayson is missing, two DEA agents that were tailing him were found dead," she informed him flatly.

"Fuck!" Jack uttered in dismay.

"I asked him if he needed backup, but he said no. If I didn't have this damn gala to go to, I could have covered him."

"It's not your fault, babe."

Maia didn't reply but pulled her own phone out to switch it on. The sketches of Grayson's Rave-IX contacts came through. Maia clicked the file open. Jack came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her as he peeked over her shoulder to look at the renderings with her.

"Holy shit, it's the guy from the lobby," Maia muttered.

"The guy that bumped into you?"

Maia nodded. "Put some spectacles on him and a goatee and that's him. Rick has identified him as Colt. No returns yet on the AGS database on a facial match."

"I'm not liking this," Jack growled. "He got too close to you."

A screeching of tires in the distance reminded them of their surroundings.

Jack turned her around to face him. "We're too exposed down here. Go back to your room and get some rest. I left Derek and Scott at a bar across the street. I'll let them know the developments."

He kissed her forehead. "We'll get Rick back."

"So, you didn't ask Maia about her midnight tryst?" Derek asked. They were walking back to the hotel. Jack had not told Maia that he was staying at the Grand Harbor as well. He had the room on the floor directly above hers. It took a very tenacious personal assistant to pull that off, especially when the hotel was booked up with conference attendees.

"No. Like you said when she's ready to spill she will. Not that it doesn't bug me," Jack said. He had to remind himself repeatedly of what he had signed up for when he had decided to get involved with Maia. He blew out a frustrated breath. "Remind me again why I couldn't just fall for a kindergarten teacher?"

Derek chuckled at his friend's obvious agitation. "Because you have a weakness for a certain red-haired badass."

"We'll need to keep an eye out for this guy Colt. Maia's pretty upset that Rick was taken. She won't do anything rash, will she?"

Derek cleared his throat obviously trying to avoid answering, but Jack had a pretty good evasion meter. Years with the Navy SEALs had trained him to read people fairly well.

"Will she?" Jack stopped walking to force a reply from Derek.

"Not wanting to add to your worries, Jack, but Maia has been known as a wild card. She's one of the better known rule-breakers at the AGS and doesn't give a crap about political fallout. She lets Viktor handle that."

"And Viktor lets her gets away with it?"

"Viktor is the type of guy for who the end justifies the means. If Maia gets the job done in the end, then yes she gets away with the proverbial slap on the wrist. Does that make other Guardians rule-breakers? No. They're mostly by the book because they're scared of Viktor and they can always blame the playbook when things go wrong. Maia is ballsy enough to alter the rules depending on the situation. If you ask me, Viktor lets her get away with it because she's cut from the same cloth as he is. You forget, the AGS built its reputation among some circles as the go-to company when a situation needs handling beyond politically correct measures."

"Fuck," Jack muttered as he resumed walking.

"Have faith, Jack, she's survived so far."

"That's not a comforting thought."

"No, it isn't," Derek agreed with a wry smile.

***

Maia took special care with her appearance for Addison Music Hall. Lee had called and insisted on being her escort even when he had to come straight from band rehearsals. She would have turned him down except the stakes had changed. Rick Grayson was missing and Maia was putting herself out there as bait.

The entire day at the conference was a waste of time. There was no sign of Colt or any of his guards. A whole swarm of Guardians had descended at the convention center and the surveillance team had combed every floor. Nothing. Addison Music Hall was their last bet.

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