Page 33 of Hostile Witness
The bodyguard squinted his black eyes, aiming a thumb at his chest. “I say when I’m done.” The contents of the syringe took effect, and he crumpled to the floor with a thud.
Ethan dragged him behind a curtain and left him there.
Gus’s bouncer dropped to his knees and fell backward. “Damn, this new stuff is potent shit,” Gus noted as he slid the guy behind a row of scaffolding.
Mac chuckled in their ear. “You just gave them the best sleep they’ve had in years, gentlemen. It’s hypoallergenic and won’t interact with any medications. The loading-dock cameras are down.”
The houselights dimmed as a machine poured theatrical smoke across the stage. Romanov held up his arms. “And now, ladies, for your pleasure, allow me to introduce you to the men of The Pink Owl.”
Fire sirens swelled from the speakers, and screams of delight reverberated in the crowded venue. A popular hip-hop song started playing as Ethan peered around the curtain. Several waiters set their trays down, and a dozen strippers filed in from stage right wearing fireman coats. Pull-away cummerbunds, ties, and shirts flew through the air. Ethan snapped his attention back to Romanov, who was heading in their direction. Time to work.
Romanov waved his finger for them to follow him. He wheeled around in the hallway and shut the stage door. “You are here to negotiate, gentlemen?”
“The negotiations are done, Mr. Romanov. We agreed on the terms of sale yesterday. The money has been paid,” Gus retorted in Russian.
“I have received much finer merchandise today, but it will cost you. We’ll speak in my office.” Romanov headed down the hallway but slowed and turned as he shoved a hand into his pocket. His beady eyes searched their faces. “Where are Oleg and Boris?”
Conversation over. Ethan moved like lightning and struck a neck and wrist pressure point, bringing the man to his knees. Gus ripped a piece of duct tape from the inside of his tux and covered Romanov’s mouth, and Ethan zip-tied his wrists together. They each slid an arm under the guy’s shoulders and dragged him kicking and resisting through the exit where the van waited for them. They handed him over to Derek and Mac and went back inside to extract their server, the Feds’ confirmed contact.
Gus muttered, “She got one word wrong in the code.”
“I noticed. I’ll vet her one more time. Let’s try the office,” Ethan said.
As they rounded the corner, they came face-to-face with a bouncer holding their server at gunpoint. “You make one move, and I kill her. I found her rifling through the boss’s office and loading his personal things into her purse. She’s one of you, huh?”
Ethan and Gus glanced at each other. This kind of annoying snafu tossed a mission timeline out the window. Judging by a second glance down the hallway, they would only have to entertain the bouncer for maybe twenty seconds.
Gus rubbed his hands together and raised an eyebrow. “You’ll never get a chance to use that gun on her.”
“You doubt me? Take one step in this direction, and she’s gone.”
“Mr. Romanov is waiting. I suggest you hand her over.”
“Yeah, right. Looked to me like she’s a part of whatever’s going down here. Nobody takes Romanov’s phone and lives to tell about it.” A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his pockmarked face. “What’d you do to the boss? Where is he?” He jammed the nose of his gun into the girl’s temple.
“He’s waiting for us in the limo. We’re business partners.”
“I don’t believe you. I found Oleg passed out in the backstage area. He always accompanies the boss on outside deals.”
Gus held up his hands. “Not this time—our rules.”
Ethan smirked. “Hey, buddy. Do you have eyes in the back of your head?”
The guy frowned. “What? You cracking jokes now?”
Beck came up from behind and tapped a syringe into the bouncer’s neck as Mooney yanked the man’s hand upward and the gun clattered to the ground. The bouncer swung at them before sliding to the floor, clearly out of the conversation.
Gus zip-tied their server’s wrists and rushed her down the long hallway to the exit door. “I look forward to finding out who you are, beautiful. Your Russian is impeccable, but you missed a code word.”
Ethan grabbed the server’s purse and raised an eyebrow at Mooney and Beck. “You guys were right on time.”
“Lots of practice, dude.” Mooney glanced at his watch. “Nice job sweet-talking the goon while we walked up behind him.” He and Beck turned left into Romanov’s office.
Ethan flung open the loading-dock door. Mac and Derek had already loaded Romanov into the waiting limo. Gus handed the server to Mac. Mooney and Beck jogged down the hallway, their arms loaded with computers and hard drives. Ethan held the door for them as the erotic pulse of strip music reverberated behind them.
Beck and Mooney quickly filed into the van with Mac, shut the door, and sped off into the night.
Derek reactivated the cameras and the alarm they’d turned off. “Alarm system is active again” echoed in their earpieces.