North’s Nikki Read online

  Charles patted her hand. “He is a good man.”

  Startled, she stared at him and then grinned. “Yes, he is, but, Granddad, no matchmaking.”

  He gave her an innocent look.

  She shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, but I don’t need you meddling in it,” she warned.

  “I’m not meddling,” he protested. “But you’re not getting any younger, my dear.”

  “Ouch,” she said, laughing. “I’m not expired yet either, you know?”

  “Maybe not, but it’d be lovely to see great-grandkids.”

  She shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Not at all,” he said with a smile.

  Just then a nurse with two orderlies came in and said, “We’re here to take you upstairs, where we’ll run you through a CT scan.”

  Charles nodded.

  Nikki looked at the nurse and asked, “May I come?”

  “Certainly, my dear. Anything that makes him happy.”

  Nikki wondered at the VIP treatment. Whatever kept her granddad alive and in good health, she was all for. By the time they made it upstairs, and he was run through the machine, checking that no bleeding was found in his head, she was thoroughly tired. It had to be close to four o’clock in the morning by now. She stood beside her granddad when the doctor came back out and smiled.

  “Looks fine. No bleeding. As far as I’m concerned, you’re good to go home.”

  At that her granddad sat up and nodded. “Now, where’s North? It’s time to go. I really could use a cup of tea.”

  She chuckled, held out a hand to help him to his feet, worried he’d be a little unsteady after the head injury and lying down for so long.

  With alacrity he used her arm to stand, took a few hesitant steps and then nodded. “I’m good.”

  Just then North stepped in the small space and said, “The car is out front.”

  And she realized he’d gone out while they had been in the CT room to move the vehicle closer for Charles. Indeed, it was waiting right outside the front doors. She helped her granddad into the front seat, then took her place in the back. North never once said a word. He hopped into the driver’s side and smoothly pulled away from the hospital.

  “Did you find out anything else?” Charles asked.

  “Yes. The security cameras did pick up a second man in the kitchen. Not sure what he was looking for, but he was opening various drawers.”

  “Interesting,” Charles said. But that was all he said.

  North gave him a quick look. “Anything special in the kitchen?”

  “Lots of special things in the kitchen,” Charles said with a half smirk. “The question remains to be seen as to whether they found what they were looking for or not.”

  “And, if they found something you had hidden, how would they possibly have known it was there?”

  He caught Charles’s heavy in-drawn breath as he conceded the point. “Good question,” he said quietly. “I won’t know until I get home. But let’s hope they didn’t locate anything.”

  In the back seat, she listened, once again amazed at the secret life her granddad lived. Here she’d been worried about him being lonely if she left him behind to move to the US. But apparently he lived a life of excitement and intrigue that she hadn’t begun to imagine. She’d known he was involved in something but had no idea the scope of it. Even now she doubted she’d ever know the full extent of his activities. For the first time in a long time she realized that, although she’d miss him, he certainly would be fine without her. And maybe it was time for her to move to the States after all.

  *

  North helped Charles up the front steps. Even though Charles protested and said he was fine, North said in an abrasive tone, “Then behave yourself, and stop your granddaughter from worrying.”

  Immediately Charles fell quiet. He let out a heavy sigh and nodded. “I tend to forget I’m not alone.”

  “Do you spend much time with her?”

  “No, she has her own life, and honestly I have so much company coming and going sometimes, people she’s not allowed to see, that it can take a little bit of maneuvering to open up a spot where it’s safe for her to come for a visit.”

  “Are you happy doing this work?”

  Charles flashed him a bright smile. “I’ve been loyal to my country and to the cause of keeping peace in the world since I was a young man. If I died doing my duty, that would be fine by me. I have no plans to retire.”

  He had such an emphasis on the word retire that North believed Charles had no intention of not continuing with his work. “Well, we all appreciate it.”

  “And I know that,” Charles said. “I do provide a service, and it’s a valuable one.”

  “Any idea how they tracked your granddaughter here?”

  “It wouldn’t take much for an ancestry search to have found me,” he said. “And, if anybody saw her vehicle here or tracked her car here or even followed her, it’s pretty obvious where she’s been staying. I’m the only family she has in England, so it makes sense she would come to me when there’s trouble.”

  “And would your name pop up as anything other than a doting grandfather?”

  “Of course not. We keep that background check on me as clean as possible.”

  “So it’s a complete accident that your place has been found?”

  “I’ve put a lot of thought into that since I woke up, and I’m pretty sure nobody knows anything about me. This is not related to any of my stuff.”

  “It would be good if we could completely write that off,” North said in a low tone. “If it is connected, you know we’ve got a hell of a lot more work to figure out who and how.”

  “If they didn’t find anything in the kitchen,” Charles said, “then I’m pretty sure it’s not connected to my work but to Nikki’s.” And, with that said, Charles headed straight for the kitchen.

  Nikki came in, locked the front door behind her and trailed several feet behind them into the kitchen. “Granddad, you should go straight to bed.”

  “I want a cup of tea first,” he said in a strong voice.

  North and Charles exchanged a glance. North turned, caught Nikki up in a hug and said, “Let your granddad do what he feels he needs to do for peace of mind.” She shot him a look, and he grinned at her. “A cup of tea is so much more than just a drink.”

  She studied him for a long moment, and her shoulders sagged. “I know. I could use one myself.”

  He turned her around and ushered her toward the sitting room. “You go sit. Let me make the tea.”

  “Do you know how to make a proper tea?” she asked with one eyebrow raised. “We’re British. Tea is not just something you throw together with tepid water and a teabag of basically dust particles.”

  At that he laughed out loud. “I promise I’ll do a better job on my tea than most British do on their coffee.”

  That brought a grin flashing on her face. But she obediently turned and headed to the sitting room. He walked to the stove and put on the teakettle while he waited for Charles to determine if everything was okay. North deliberately didn’t watch what Charles was doing. That was all part of Charles’s system here, and North wouldn’t pry.

  “No one has touched anything,” Charles announced, the relief and strength back in his voice.

  “Perfect,” North said, turning around to lean against the counter beside the stove. “And now how about we all have a cup of tea and relax.”

  Charles, standing straighter, nodded. “That would be good.”

  He bustled around in the kitchen, North watching as Charles prepared for tea—preheating the teapot, getting out the tea leaves he wanted from a selection of tins in a drawer. When the teakettle whistled, he poured the water on the tea slowly and set a timer.

  North liked tea, but he preferred coffee. The fanaticism that he had seen as so many British people made tea always amused him. When Charles cracked open a large tin and brought
out cookies, North could feel his stomach growling.

  Charles nodded. “Nothing like action and stress to bring on an appetite,” he said.

  Still, it was all good news about Charles’s own business activities not having been disclosed or involved in this attack on him.

  “What I didn’t find out is whether we have a face on the second man.”

  North pulled out his phone and sent Levi a text, asking about that. The response was cut off by Anders coming down the stairs.

  Anders gave a sleepy smile and said, “How is everything?”

  “Fine,” North said. “Did you get a face off the second man?”

  He shook his head. “No, we got the back of a head, a slight bit of a profile, but nothing else.”

  “Let’s see what you did get,” Charles said. “I won’t rest until I have a good idea who was behind this.”

  They walked into his office. One wall was lined with bookcases, and brocade carpets covered most of the rich mahogany wood flooring. North stood in the middle of this room and smiled. “This is just the kind of office I could imagine you in,” he said.

  Charles smiled. “This is definitely my space.” He brought up the security video and scrolled through what he needed. “This is probably the best photo, and you’re right. It’s not very clear.”

  North walked around to stand behind Charles as he flicked through the couple images that caught the man in the kitchen. “We should ask your granddaughter if she recognizes who this is.”

  “Then let me see,” Nikki said from the doorway, her hands on her hips, fingers tapping a quick rhythm of impatience. “I was waiting in the sitting room and saw all of you come in here.”

  “We were looking for the image of the second intruder.”

  She strode across the office to stand behind her granddad. She looked at the second man in the image and nodded. “That’s Phillip. He was with Carl that night I was in the warehouse.”

  “Okay, good enough. We’ll track him down too.”

  Charles looked at his watch and bolted to his feet. “Tea is ready.”

  With one last lingering look at the man whose face was turned away, North followed Charles into the kitchen, then to the sitting room. When they all sat down, each with a cup of tea, North asked Anders, “Anything else show up?”

  Anders shook his head. “No.” Then Anders faced Charles. “Jonas did come by though. He’s looking for some reassurance from you when you get a moment.”

  Charles nodded. “Did he recognize Carl’s photo?”

  “He didn’t know him personally, but he would run him through the database.”

  “Good enough, it’ll probably take until tomorrow anyway. What we really needed to do is get that ampule analyzed, and that we haven’t done.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost six. We could probably run up to that address Levi gave us.”

  “No need,” Anders said. “I already took care of it. When you were at the hospital, I dropped it off with the contact Charles had given us. They’ll get it back to us as soon as possible.”

  “Perfect. Then that means we have time for some sleep,” North said. He could feel the fatigue pulling at him. If nothing else, he needed four hours of downtime before moving on to the next stage.

  Her eyes barely open, Nikki curled up into the corner of the couch, her head resting on one of the big pillows. “What do we do next?”

  “Wait for more information to come in, as in what’s in the ampules, and find out who could possibly have taken out Willy and the clerk from the warehouse.”

  “I don’t think I heard about that part,” Charles said in a sharp voice. “Fill me in please.”

  Splitting together bits and pieces, North and Anders filled Charles in on both drivers being killed in a supposed vehicular accident.

  “A little too convenient,” Charles murmured.

  “Exactly. And now that MI6 is involved, we’ll have some help, whether we want it or not, to solve this.”

  “That’s not a problem,” Charles said. “I’d be calling them anyway.”

  North looked over at him and said, “Do you deal with Jonas?”

  Charles gave him a pitying look. “Hell no. Way higher.” After that he wouldn’t say another word.

  It made North feel good to know Charles was dealing with the higher echelon in the British government. When dealing with so many secrets, one was always better situated to work with the top layer. He glanced at Nikki, realizing her eyes were shut and noting her chest rose and fell with steady breaths. He nodded toward her and asked Charles, “Do we leave her here?”

  “Oh, dear. She’d sleep so much better in her own bed.”

  Anders stood up and said, “Right, my tea is gone. I’ll head back upstairs and see if I can get some sleep. Who knows what’s coming tomorrow.”

  North put his cup on the coffee table and nodded. “I’ll carry her to her room. Could you come and open the doors for me, please?”

  Anders nodded. “That I can do.”

  In one move, North bent, slid his arms underneath her back and knees, scooped her up, following Anders to the base of the stairs and climbing steadily. He tossed back in a soft voice, “Good night, Charles.”

  “Good night.”

  At the top of the stairs, Anders motioned toward the bedroom down the hall. “Hers is at the end.”

  North followed Anders to the door, waiting while he opened it. Carefully North walked inside, straight to the bed. Anders flipped back the covers, and North laid her on top of the sheets. He stood for a long moment and frowned. “It doesn’t look like she’d sleep very easily in that outfit.”

  “Sure, but removing her clothes while she sleeps will take a braver man than me.” He chuckled. “That’s up to you to decide.” He walked out, closing the door behind him.

  North frowned. She didn’t have any shoes on, but she still wore her slim-fit jeans with a blouse tucked in the waistband. She wouldn’t sleep well wearing that.

  Chapter 8

  Nikki woke sore and achy the next morning, her body not used to staying up most of the night nor was it used to being thrown around her vehicle during car chases and intentional rear-end collisions. She stretched slowly, wincing with pain. Her body still felt like it hadn’t had any rest or recovery time. She opened her eyes, stared around at her bedroom and then checked the clock. It was nine o’clock. But too much was happening that she didn’t dare stay in bed. She flipped back the covers and froze. She only had on her panties and bra. That explained why her back and shoulders were sore; she never slept with a bra on. It was way too uncomfortable.

  As she lay here mostly exposed, she realized one of the men must have stripped her down. The last thought she had was falling asleep in the sitting room. She groaned lightly. Which meant they had carried her to bed, took off her outer layer of clothing and then tucked her into bed like a child. She swung her legs to the floor, stood, walked to the bathroom, stripped down and stepped into the shower. Four hours of sleep would not make up for the loss of a full night of normal rest, but at least the shower would help.

  When she was finally dressed again, she made her way downstairs, and, of course, the men were already there. “Don’t any of you sleep?” she asked.

  “We weren’t sure what today would bring, so we all grabbed four hours. Your grandfather wouldn’t stay in bed either.”

  She walked over to her granddad, leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “No, he believes the only people who stay in bed are those who have died there.”

  Charles protested. “It’s not that bad, but I don’t need as much sleep as I used to.”

  “I never understood that,” she said in confusion. She walked to the sideboard, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. “You would think that, as you age, you would need more sleep. Instead, apparently you need only half of what the rest of us do.”

  “Did you get any sleep?” North asked her intently.

  And she knew it was him who had stripped her
down. She nodded. In an attempt at a light tone, she said, “Thank you for carrying me to bed. I don’t think I would’ve slept very well on the couch.”

  He nodded and seemed satisfied with that.

  She glanced at Anders. His eyes twinkled at her. She glared at him. “Obviously you stole some sleep while we were at the hospital because you’re in an awfully good mood.”

  “I’m always in a good mood,” he said cheerfully. “Seems like other people might not be though.”

  She just glared at him and sipped at her coffee. “What’s on the docket for today?”

  “Relaxing for one,” he said. “It is Saturday, so you’re not supposed to work anyway.”

  “But …”

  “But we’ll want to get more information as to what these companies have been importing for the last few years.”

  “You think they’ve been importing whatever this stuff is beyond just this shipment?”

  “Absolutely,” North said. “Too many regular shipments. Always thirty cases. It’s been going on for a long time.”

  She groaned. “Okay. I’ll take a look and see.”

  When the doorbell rang, Charles started to rise, but she bounced to her feet and said, “You stay there. I’ll answer it.” As she walked to the front door, North was at her side. “Do I really need protection to answer a door?”

  “I don’t know.” His voice was quiet. “But you can count on the fact you’ll get it whether you like it or not.”

  She sighed heavily and opened the big front door. Jonas stood there, his hands in his suit pockets waiting for them.

  He nodded to North, glanced at Nikki and said, “I need to see your granddad.”

  She sighed and pulled the door open wider. “Your face really isn’t the one I want to see when I first wake up in the morning. You know that?”

  He stared at her in surprise. “Good thing,” he said, “because I slept with another woman last night.”

  When he chuckled, she realized her words could have been construed in a different way. She put it down to her own early morning, her not-quite-awake level of consciousness.