North’s Nikki Read online

  “He’ll come back and forth, and you’ll go back and forth for a while, until you decide that you can’t do that anymore,” he said, “and then it’ll be make-or-break time.”

  His analysis was so very clear-cut and simple and yet, at the same time, left so much out.

  “It doesn’t mean he’s interested in me,” she said, but inside she knew exactly how North felt. Just not how deeply he felt. “We don’t know each other.”

  “You know what counts. The rest is all just window dressing.”

  “Is that what it was like for you and Grandma?” she asked.

  He nodded, his eyes warming. “I knew the moment I saw Maria. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it. And I didn’t for years. And, for that, I’m sorry because we wasted so much time.”

  “It wasn’t exactly the easiest of times back then,” she said.

  He nodded. “Very true. But if I hadn’t been so pigheaded and so interested in seeing what else was out there and so blind to my own heart, we could have been together for several more years. You don’t realize how short a time you have until you’ve lost that opportunity. We weren’t together for very long before she discovered she had cancer. Back then the treatments weren’t anything like what we have now. Not that they could have done much anyway. But she was taken from me far too fast.”

  “And you never remarried?”

  He shook his head. “Never met another woman who made me feel the same way.”

  “Not everybody will make you feel the same way,” she said gently. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t make you feel good. Or that you can’t love again. I think every relationship is different. It’s the particular mix of people who come together who make it special. I think you should find a partner.”

  He smiled at her with a gentle shake of his head. “I think it’s you who needs a partner. I’m not too bothered at my age.”

  “You’d be a hell of a catch,” she said, waving her sandwich at him. “A lot of women out there would love to spend time with a man like you.” She watched the pink tinge his cheeks as he smiled at her, but she could see he was pleased regardless.

  “I haven’t been totally alone all these years,” he said, “but don’t tell your parents that.”

  She laughed, a light joyous sound pealing around the room. She realized just how little there had been to laugh about in the last few days. “I am delighted to hear that,” she said. “And your secret is safe with me.”

  “That’s my life,” he half joked. “Secrets, secrets and more secrets.”

  “I had no idea you had the connections or were dealing with the level of intrigue you currently are living with.”

  “Your parents don’t know either, my dear. Some things are best left in the realm of secrets.”

  She understood what he was saying. “They really wouldn’t understand, would they?”

  He shook his head. “No. As far as they’re concerned, I’m a nice retired doddering old man, living alone in this house until I die.”

  She grinned a wicked grin. “And here you are, a Silver Fox version of James Bond, with women at every corner, and you didn’t even let me know about them.”

  He chuckled. “The Silver Fox moniker I don’t mind. James Bond, not so much.”

  Her phone rang. She checked it. “Oh, it’s North.” She answered the call, feeling her heart lighten. “I hope you aren’t in trouble again,” she teased.

  “I’m never in trouble,” he protested. “But it is good to hear your voice.”

  She could feel the heat washing up her cheeks. “You do say the craziest things,” she murmured.

  “Hardly. I like to think I tell you the truth all the time.”

  “I don’t think so. Flattery in a rogue is still flattery.”

  “It’s not flattery because that would be meaningless to you. A compliment is a compliment, and I’m not a rogue,” he insisted. “You’re a lovely person who I’d love to spend more time with. There. Is that open and friendly enough?”

  “I still think it’s flirting.”

  “You didn’t say flirting was against the rules, did you?”

  “You mean there are rules? I didn’t think you followed any rules.” Her tone was still light. She slid a sideways glance at her grandfather. He was sipping his tea, a small secretive smile curling his lips. She realized how much he’d already guessed was between them. But then he had made that clear by having already contacted Levi. “You’ve got Granddad worried. You know that?”

  “About what?”

  “About our future together.” There was silence at the other end of a phone. She laughed. “He called Levi to see if you were on the up-and-up and good enough for his granddaughter.”

  “Wow,” North said. “I guess that’s what happens when I show interest in the spy master’s granddaughter.”

  “Spy master? That’s a really good name for him,” she said as she grinned at her grandfather.

  He just studied her, a twinkle in his gaze.

  “What did Levi say?” North asked.

  “Oh, you’re worried about what Levi might have said, huh? Maybe you should contact Levi and see if he gave you a good reference.”

  “He wouldn’t have sent me to Charles’s place if he didn’t trust me.”

  “Trusting you with murder and mayhem, yes, is one thing, but trusting you with Charles’s granddaughter?”

  “That’s what I was sent for, to protect you,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, but what about the granddaughter’s honor?”

  North chuckled. “Love this conversation,” he said. “Another one we’ll have to continue when I get there.”

  “I’m not so sure we’ll continue this conversation,” she said, backtracking quickly.

  “Oh no, no, no. This is definitely one we’ll have to follow up on,” he said smoothly.

  Anxious to change the subject, she asked, “Outside of flirting with me, did you have a reason for calling?”

  “I always have a reason for calling,” he said. “The question is, do you have a reason for flirting with me?”

  “The only reason for flirting …” Her words stopped.

  “Yes?” he asked, his voice silky smooth.

  “Never mind,” she said hurriedly. “What did you find out?” Her tone turned more businesslike with that sentence.

  “I was wondering if your grandfather could phone the lab and see if we can stop by and get the results. I think we’re only a block away.”

  “He was supposed to call as soon as he finished eating. Whereabouts are you?”

  “After the first warehouse, we went back to the second one. But MI6 has it all locked down. It’s taped up, and there are security guards on both entrances. I’d love to have permission to go in there, but chances of getting that aren’t good.”

  “You can’t sneak in without permission?” she teased.

  “I could, but, if we got caught, it would have strong repercussions, and we don’t want that to come back on you or your granddad.”

  She appreciated that. “You could ask Jonas for permission to go in and explore the warehouse.”

  “We have a message in to him, but he’s not responding.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you back as soon as Granddad checks in with the lab.” She hung up. “Jonas isn’t answering his phone. North and Anders wanted to go into the second warehouse and take a look.”

  Charles nodded. “They aren’t allowed to though. That’s been locked down. Nobody in or out.”

  “So it’ll be a little hard to figure out who these men are and where that shipment was supposed to go.”

  Charles steepled his fingers over his teacup, resting his elbows on the table as he studied her face. “I could get permission for them to go in there. But we have to have a damn good reason.”

  “It should be easy enough to find something on the laptop Jonas has,” Nikki said.

  “The thing is,” Charles continued, “they are using London Emporium somehow to bring in these d
rugs. The manifest was for London Emporium, but they were the ones ultimately receiving it. So we need more information on the company exporting the wine and drugs. We got some information off the laptop but haven’t had a chance to go through it all yet.”

  “I have the wine shipment coming from a company in France, but I don’t know anything about the company. When I searched Google for it, I don’t get anything.”

  “Nothing?” Charles dropped his hands onto the table and leaned forward. “No hits? Nothing?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing is coming up. Nothing old, nothing new.”

  He frowned and stared off in the distance. “How are they paying?”

  “I’d have to confirm, but generally it’s by check. The bookkeeper would have that information.”

  “Who handles getting the deliveries out of the main warehouse to its end user?”

  “I handle the paperwork,” she said honestly. “Stan does all things related to the warehouse. He handles logistics of sending it out, bringing in drivers, and he usually loads them himself.”

  “And Scottie? Scottie is there for what purpose?”

  “Mostly for unloading. When we have to move stock, we have to check in orders and ship things out rather quickly. Some of our stuff is very time-sensitive because it’s fresh or organic or whatever,” she said with a wave of her hand. “And so we turn things around very quickly.”

  Charles nodded.

  “And considering the way the company is sliding economically at the moment, I don’t think they can afford to have too much money being lost on spoiled merchandise.”

  “That makes sense. But it also is interesting to consider that, with the company having money problems, would they have any involvement in this side business?”

  “I can answer you that right off the bat,” she said strongly. “Absolutely not.”

  “So you say. But when did you last speak with the owner?”

  She shrugged. “Months ago,” she admitted. “Many months. Since his chemo started for sure. He hasn’t been into the office in probably over a year. I know Hannah comes in every once in a while, but, other than that, a couple people are left in the small corporate office who run the show.”

  “It sounds like the business is ready to go belly-up or to shut down, just close its doors, or to be sold.”

  “That’s what I’ve heard, yes.”

  “So it’s possible Hannah might know something,” Charles offered. “It’s possible somebody close to Hannah might be pulling a fast one on her or on somebody related to the owner or on any one of the people in the office.”

  “But what could they possibly be doing?” Nikki asked.

  “The assumption would be that they’re utilizing the space to bring in shipments of their own.”

  “Yes, but, I mean, the manifest was for thirty cases of wine shipped, and yet they brought in thirty more. That’s hardly pulling a fast one.” She reached for her teacup and picked it up. Just then the power went out. Her eyes wide, she stared at her grandfather. “Please tell me that was just a fault of the power company.”

  But her grandfather was already on his feet, racing out of the room. “Follow me, child.”

  With her tea in hand, she tried to run behind him. They entered the office.

  He turned and locked the door behind them, then said, “Sit down.”

  She went to the chair closest to the desk and sat. “Should I tell North?”

  “Absolutely. Get him home fast.”

  Instead of sending a text, she hit Dial and waited for the call to go through. When he answered, she said, “The power just went out here. We’ve locked ourselves in the office. Granddad says get home now.”

  “On it.” And he hung up.

  She stared at her phone. “Well, it’s nice to know somebody can be fast and efficient when they need to be.” Her granddad was searching through the monitors. “Are you checking the security system?”

  “I am.”

  She shook her head. “And how the hell can you do that if we have no power?”

  “Because they’re connected to the place next to me.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “What?”

  He gave her a half smile. “I own the town house beside us. Of course the owner is a dummy corporation to hide my name from prying eyes. This security system is connected to the power there, just in case the power here goes out. That way I still have power for the security intact here.”

  “And you did that on purpose, in case this place was targeted?”

  He nodded slowly. “I did, indeed.” He tapped the monitor. “Come take a look.”

  She stepped around behind him. Sure enough, there was Carl and Phillip already entering the front door. “Oh, my goodness. They’ll be here any moment.”

  “Not quite,” he said comfortably. “They don’t know this is an office.”

  “And how is that possible?”

  “Any online floor plans or physical copies don’t show this room. And when I lock up at night, I have a sliding door that makes it look like a false facade. It’s a piece of paneling that slides across when I push this button.” He pointed to a button on the inside of one of the drawers. “At night, before retiring, I activate a hidden button in my bedroom. So they wouldn’t have seen the office last night when they passed it to find me in my bedroom.”

  “So this is what? Part of your spy master secret stuff?” she half joked, but she stared with worried eyes as Carl and his cohort entered through the front door. Yet her granddad didn’t appear worried—instead she could see anger twist his features. He might be secure here, but he wasn’t happy to see more visitors. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to North, letting him and Anders know what was happening.

  “How did they get in?” Nikki asked her grandfather.

  “No idea but I will find out. I’ll need to do a complete system check so this doesn’t happen again. I did a cursory one before, but since my earlier checks didn’t point to any particular problem, I shrugged it off.”

  “I need to tell North that. I hope he’s here soon,” she said, her fingers busy sending more texts to update North.

  Charles settled back with his fingers linked together on his lap while he watched the monitors.

  “Aren’t you worried?” She studied his face. “You were angry just a moment before.”

  He chuckled. “I am, and I’m not. I have a few security measures I haven’t had a chance to test, so this will be a good one.”

  “What kind of security measures?”

  Just then the cameras picked up Carl heading upstairs. “Is he looking for my room now?”

  “I would suspect so.” They tried North’s door first. But it wouldn’t open. They slid over across to check in Anders’s bedroom, and it wouldn’t open either.

  “Are they locked?”

  “All the doors in the house lock as soon as security has been breached.”

  “But it wasn’t breached. Just the power was shut off.”

  “Same thing,” he said. “I pushed the Breach button, and the security was locked down throughout the house.”

  “And, if I was in my bedroom, could I get out?”

  “Nope, you sure couldn’t. You’d be locked inside.”

  “Well then, I’m glad I’m here.” She noticed her teacup, picked it up and took a sip. “Although it’s a bit unnerving to be locked in.”

  At that, he chuckled. “Not to worry. We can always get out if we need to.”

  “And how is that?”

  He motioned to the wall behind him, and then he hit another button. Sure enough, a whole panel section opened up.

  “Where does that go?”

  He smiled. “To the townhome beside us. We always have an exit if we need it.”

  She stared at the door, walked closer to it and peered through the side panel window. “Is it rented? Does anybody live there?”

  “For a long time a lady friend lived there. I have to admit that door was quite convenient at t
hat time.”

  She gasped, turned to face her granddad and then laughed. “You sly fox.”

  “Silver Fox I believe you called me originally,” he said with a complacent voice.

  She grinned. “And is your ladylove not there anymore?”

  He shook his head. “She went back to France. I wasn’t quite ready to leave England.”

  Nikki sat down in the chair again, amazed to hear these tidbits of her grandfather’s life. “And do you ever put any of your guests over there?”

  “Some of the secret ones.” He nodded. “So you just forget about that door.”

  “What door?” she said promptly as she watched the paneling close and settle into place. “Granddad, you have depths I had no idea about.”

  “It’s always best not to underestimate those of us with a lot of experience and wisdom gained the hard way.”

  She stood again to watch the monitors as the men tried hard to get into her bedroom. “How would they know it’s mine?”

  “It’s possible they were up there earlier after they hit me.”

  “They obviously didn’t cut the power that time, or you would have made it to the office.”

  “That’s right. They came in the front door. I thought it was you,” he said. “I’d let my guard down because you were staying with me for the weekend, so I hadn’t thought anything of it.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s because of me that you were attacked.”

  “It’s not because of you, my dear. It’s because of these two men. They definitely aren’t gentlemen,” he said in a stiff voice.

  She hid her smile because, of course, they weren’t gentlemen, and her granddad was every inch of one. “How do we stop them from terrorizing the rest of the house?”

  “Oh, they’re not going anywhere,” he said.

  “How do you stop them from leaving?” she asked slowly.

  He slid her a look. “Both exterior doors have been locked from the inside now. They can’t open them either. They’re digital.”

  “And that digital power is connected to the house beside you.”

  He nodded. “So we’ll just sit here and wait until MI6 and North arrive. I’ve got odds that North gets here first.”

  “That’s pretty ingenious, even for you.”