Destined for Power (9 page)

Mallory’s mind raced as images from the previous seventy-two hours snapped into place. There were still some gaps, but it was a start. “Thank you. Let me know if you find out anything else.”

Mallory ended the call and saw Reid watching her. “Take me to my car, please. I need to get some things from it, and then we can go to your suite and talk.”

Reid looked at her suspiciously but turned the truck into the parking lot. It didn’t take long for him to spot Mallory’s car. He pulled into the space next to hers and got out. Mallory opened the purse she must have retrieved from upstairs and unlocked the car. She opened the hood and pulled out a small bag.

“Let’s go. But not one word until I say so, okay?”

Reid pursed his lips but nodded. She tried to think of how to say all the things that needed to be said. Sixteen years of feelings, thoughts, and events that had been left unmentioned—ignored and pushed to the side.

Her heart was racing by the time she stepped into his suite. Mallory opened the bag; Reid went to the table and picked up his phone. She pulled out the scanner and turned it on. She swept the room for bugs while Reid listened to voicemails. She breathed a little easier when she determined the room was clean.

“I can’t believe this,” Reid said as he turned off his phone. “A member of my security team was found murdered.”

“Dario. Yes, I know.”

“How do you know? Who were you talking to? What is going on, Mallory?” Reid asked angrily.

“I think someone is trying to kill you.”

Reid didn’t know what to say. “Kill me? Why?”

“Your security assistant was murdered and your plane was shot down by a missile. You tell me why. What have you done that would warrant someone trying to kill you?”

Reid’s phone rang again. He picked it up when he saw it was from Luke. “What is going on over there?”

“Thank goodness! I’ve been trying to get hold of you since they found Dario.”

“I got your messages about his murder.”

“I didn’t want to leave this on a voicemail. Mr. Simpson, I pulled up everything Dario had been working on as soon as we found out about his murder. The last thing he did before leaving was to copy the high-stakes game, and then he wiped the system. All our digital files from the game are gone.”

“I knew something was wrong. So I have the only file?”

“No. He made two copies. When the police found him, he didn’t have it on him. I’ve, um, taken upon myself to search for it. It’s not here, and it’s not at his home. It’s vanished.”

“Thank you for calling me, Luke. Let me know if anything else happens.”

“I will. If there is something here, I will find it.”

Reid hung up the phone and looked at Mallory. She wasn’t even hiding the fact she’d been eavesdropping. “Do you have hearing aids like Shirley?”

Mallory smiled and Reid gulped. Sixteen years and she could still turn him into a weak-kneed boy. “I have a lot of fun toys I’ll show you sometime. What’s on the file?”

“Security footage of the poker game you were at the other night. Your turn. Why is it worth killing for?”

Mallory took a deep breath and sat down in one of the armchairs. “Liam. This all has to do with Prince Liam.”

CHAPTER TEN

“What do you know about Liam?” Mallory asked as she crossed her legs.

Reid thought for a moment and shrugged. “In all my business dealings with him, he comes across as a spoiled brat with a merciless streak. He throws a fit if he doesn’t get what he wants, when he wants it. I know he hates his father, who is going to die any day now. But what does that have to do with me?”

“Nothing until you apparently showed an interest in the poker game.”

“He was laundering money, wasn’t he?”

“I think it was more of a payoff. The only thing we, meaning the CIA and Rahmi security, can’t figure out is how they are connected.”

“The payoff was to Black and Jonak. That was easy enough to see on the video.” Reid blew out a long breath. He hated politics. And people thought casinos were a dirty business. “So he paid Jonak and Black to pull the trigger. When I asked for a copy of the tape, my guy sold me out. They killed him and then tried to kill me so there was no video evidence that could link them.”

“Most likely. There’s evidence of a plot to kill one of the presidential candidates. Liam somehow gave the identity of the target to one of them during the poker game.”

“Let’s watch the video. Maybe your eyes will see something I missed.”

Reid pulled up the video on his computer and they leaned forward. He moved the video to the end of the game. “This is the part that caught me by surprise.”

“Me, too. It was over so fast. Can you pull up all the angles?”

Reid nodded and the screen split into fours. They watched in silence as Liam went all in. He flipped his cards when he realized he lost. Then he slid his hand into his pocket so briefly it was hardly noticeable. He shook hands with Black and then Jonak. As soon as he let go of Jonak’s hand, Jonak slid his hand into his pocket and smiled.

“There,” Mallory called as she pointed. “He must have had the name on a piece of paper. I didn’t see it because they were facing the dealer most of the time. It looked so natural.”

“So, Jonak is the killer for hire?” Reid asked.

“It looks like it. I always thought it was both of them. I thought they were partners, but we can’t find a connection between them.”

“It’s both of them. They’re cousins.” Reid saw the shock on Mallory’s face.

“How do you know that?”

“Easy. Found it using our security software. The CIA doesn’t hold a candle to the type of information casinos can get their hands on,” Reid said with a little smugness of his own.

“Cousins . . .” Mallory stood up and sent a text. “If they are working together, then the outcome of the poker game didn’t matter so long as one of them won. And if they are that connected, then their businesses must be as well. But all their records are clean. There is no money going from one to the other.”

“Not into their new companies, no. But what about the company started by their grandmothers?” Reid asked.

“Amazing—years of research and all the CIA needed to do was go to a casino. You’re running relationship awareness searches, aren’t you?” Mallory asked excitedly.

“Sure am. I was suspicious and started pulling on threads this morning. Their grandmothers were sisters and started a small antiques store. Somehow this store grossed hundreds of thousands of dollars during the 1950s. They each had a son who started their own antiques store the next town over. However, when we pulled up the records, they were all owned under the same company name. That company is still run today by Black’s and Jonak’s fathers. It also appears Black and Jonak like expensive antiques. They’ve spent millions on old chairs from their fathers’ stores,” Reid told her.

“Their grandmothers ran the crime ring. After they passed, it was handed off to their sons. Black and Jonak have legit businesses as a cover. All illegal activity is laundered through antiques. The assassin must be in the fathers’ employ,” Mallory said as she snapped her fingers.

Reid shook his head in amazement. “Now it makes sense. When Luke and I watched the game, we thought they were possibly laundering dirty drug money. Instead they were laundering a payment for assassination.”

“Exactly.” Mallory started pacing the room as she snapped her fingers. “How is this for irony? The candidate, or candidates, who hired the assassin were there along with the ones meant to be killed. They lost too. And that money also went to Jonak. One of the candidates just paid for his own murder.”

“What about the President of France?” Reid asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll pass that tidbit on to Bowie.”

Reid narrowed his eyes. “What exactly is Bowie to you? And for that matter, who exactly are you?”

“Bowie is my CIA handler. I was recruited as an asset in college. I was just there to keep my ear to the ground and pass along anything interesting I picked up on the party circuit. Then I saved the lives of Princes Mohtadi and Dirar Ali Rahman. Prince Mohtadi’s head of security, Ahmed, took me under his wing. He taught me how to be a spy and a lot more. I started getting orders directly from the President of the United States and the director of the CIA. I would say I was more of an off-the-books government asset. Somewhere, someone approved spending for a really expensive office chair, and that’s who I was.”

“What kind of orders did you get?” Reid didn’t know what to think. Mallory had been kind as a teenager. She had so much love inside her he didn’t know how she could be a ruthless contract agent.

Mallory shrugged. “I stole some government secrets. Got some stolen secrets back. Made sure some treaties were signed and some spies sent back to the US.”

“How did you do that? Your face was on the cover of every gossip site.”

“Give me some credit. I was never seen. An unmarked envelope would make its way to the desk of the king or president with some leverage in it, encouraging them to follow through with their promises. If I had to do something in person, I was in disguise. I know how to fool even your facial recognition software.”

Reid shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around this. “What kind of things did you have to do in person?”

Mallory took a deep breath. “You hate me anyway, so it’s not like I’m going to change your mind about me. When I had to kill someone, like this one warlord in Africa who was involved in the trafficking of little children, I was disguised as an international aid worker. There, I’ve told you and now you know. I’m not Mallory Westin, debutante, anymore.”

“Did you save the children?” Reid asked quietly.

Mallory turned away but not before he saw her eyes tear up. “Most of them. One hundred seventy-three were saved. They killed forty-two before I could stop them and twenty-six have never been accounted for.”

Reid stood up and walked over to her. Her head was down and her shoulders sagged. “I don’t hate you, Mallory. And I certainly don’t hate you for doing what you did to save people. You’re a protector. Look how you protect my sisters.”

He turned Mallory around in his arms and looked down into her cloudy blue eyes. Suddenly it hit him. Anger coursed through him at her betrayal. “Have you been protecting me without my knowing?”

Reid waited in silence. He felt her body close to his. He felt the feelings rush back to him. Sixteen years and they were as strong as ever. When she gave a simple nod he lost the tight control he’d been keeping on his heart.

“Damn it, Mallory. What have you done?” he asked as he held her tightly in his arms. Anger, love, hurt, and hope warred inside him.

“What I had to. I had to protect you and your family,” Mallory said in a muffled voice. Reid loosened his grip on her so she wasn’t talking into his chest.

“Protect us how? From whom?”

Mallory shook her head. “I can’t. Not yet. You’re not safe yet. I can’t protect you until my birthday.”

Her birthday? She’d be, what, thirty-five next month? Reid let his head fall back in frustration. All the talks they had had that summer came forward from the depths of his memory. It was the year she would receive her full inheritance. She’d be wealthier than her own father. She’d own all the farms, industries, and lots of old money.

“Your father said something to you that night. He bent over and whispered to you. He threatened us, didn’t he? That’s why you didn’t go with me. You were protecting us the only way you knew how.” Reid clenched his jaw. His hands tightened into fists. “I should kill him.” He stepped away from Mallory and opened and closed his fists. He didn’t know how to process all this new information. It clashed with everything he’d been telling himself for the past sixteen years.

“You may not have to. It seems our friendly assassin may help you out on that matter.”

Some of the anger left Reid as he watched Mallory bite her bottom lip. She always did that when she was worrying about something. “I’m sorry. He’s still your father. What do you want me to do?”

“Stay alive,” Mallory tried to joke. “Okay, I think it may all go down here at the wounded soldiers charity event. It’s what I would do. I need access to everything without being seen. I can’t let the assassin know I’m on to him. It’s the only way I can protect you both.”

“What if it’s your father who is behind this?” Reid asked quietly.

“I’ll stop him just as I would anyone else.”

Reid pushed aside his conflicted heart and pulled her into his arms. He allowed himself to savor the feel of her if only for a minute. “I can help with the access you need. But you have to do something for it.”

Mallory looked into his eyes, and he felt the smile tugging at his lips. The same wild abandon that had raced away with his heart one summer so long ago swept over him once again. “You have to have dinner with me tonight.”

“You want to spend time with me?” Mallory asked with both confusion and hope in her voice. Reid knew in that instant he was willing to let go of the pain he thought she had caused him. Tonight he would know if they would be able to get past it.

“We have sixteen years to make up for. Go home, get whatever you need, and then meet me here in two hours.” Reid felt excited for the first time in a long time. Her father had kept them apart, and now he had a chance to prove to her he was worth coming back to; he was strong enough and powerful enough to take her father on. She was worth it and so much more. Mallory broke from his embrace and with a single nod accepted the invitation. Reid opened the door for her and watched her leave. Only this time he knew she would be back.

* * *

Black and Jonak leaned closer to the speakerphone. “What do you mean he’s not dead?” Black demanded.

“He apparently flew home the day before. No one knew.”

“You blew up an empty plane? Damn it!” Jonak slammed his meaty hand onto the table, causing the speaker to jump.

“I’ll fix it.”

“You better,” Black snapped. “And you’re not getting paid for this one. By next week, the candidate and Reid Simpson better be dead. I don’t care if you burn the whole fucking place to the ground so long as they are locked inside. We have too much riding on Prince Liam to mess this up.”

“It will be done.”

Jonak hung up the phone and turned to his cousin. “We should think about finding another base of operations.”

“You may be right. Let’s see how this plays out, though.”