Flash Burned (22 page)

The reporter said, “Hilliard is believed to be part of the ‘Billionaires Club' and is allegedly responsible for doling out hundreds of millions of dollars to politicians in order to push his own agenda. Until recently, the mostly cash contributions had gone undetected or reported to accountants and the IRS as gambling debts. Other sizable donations were funneled through various companies, as were noneligible expenses.”

You almost have it right.

Except that Bryn Hilliard wasn't part of the broader spectrum of the billionaire network—he was one of the select nine who comprised the poli-econ society of which Dane had been a part.

Chelsea rapped a hand on her table and made a disapproving noise. I glanced at her over my shoulder. She glared at me with big eyes.

“Sorry,” I told her. To Gretchen, I said, “You can lower the sound. But I still need to hear—”

The reporter continued, saying, “Hilliard's indictment is the second one this week of this magnitude. Billionaire real estate and investments mogul Lennox Avril faces similar charges of criminal corruption, tax evasion, fraud … as well as possible murder charges.”

He droned on about legalities as my head buzzed and my ears rang. I sank onto the sofa next to Gretchen.

My stomach churned, and I felt the bile rise in my throat but tamped it down. Fought back the green around the gills sensation I'd become all too familiar with since I'd left the hospital. But this had nothing to do with the baby. And everything to do with Dane.

A heartbeat later, I was on my feet without even fully realizing it. A whirlwind of activity in my head propelled me forward. I grabbed Kyle's arm as he stared at me, perplexed and concerned.

“What is it?” he demanded in a low tone, likely so as to not disturb Chelsea further. She didn't like raised voices any more than I did. Though for different reasons.

“Can you take me home?” I asked.

His brow furrowed. “Why? I thought you were happy here. You're feeling much better and—”

“Kyle, I just need another ride. Yes or no?”

Time was suddenly of the essence. I needed to get back to the house while the thoughts in my mind were fresh and held
so
much potential.

“Of course,” he reluctantly agreed as he fished his keys out of the front pocket of his jeans.

I rushed through the house with Kyle hot on my heels. We cleared the security gate and I climbed into the passenger side of his Rubicon. Tension gripped me. So did a curious exhilaration. He couldn't drive fast enough for me, and my leg bounced anxiously as we made our way through Sedona, headed north, then wove along Oak Creek Canyon to the turnoff on to the back roads that led to the house I'd shared with Dane.

I was out of the Jeep and racing around to the front door before Kyle had even slipped from his seat.

Punching in the code, I barreled through the double doors and ran down the hallway to Dane's office. Kyle rushed in behind me as I yanked drawers open and tore through file folders. It was a needle in the haystack mission. I had no idea what the hell I was searching for, but somehow—
somehow
—I knew I'd figure it out when I found it.

“Ari, what the fuck?” Kyle asked in a tight tone. “Are you totally losing it?”

“Maybe. Possibly. Likely.” I even sounded a bit hysterical. My pulse echoed in my ears and my heart beat way too fast. Still, I rifled through folders and paperwork, tossing everything that didn't strike me as pertinent onto the hardwood floor. Kyle started scooping it all up as I ransacked the first, then the second credenza.

Halfway through, I whipped out a thick black leather portfolio and slammed it onto the blotter on Dane's desk. I flipped it open and shuffled through contracts and amendments, forms, legal documents I really couldn't make heads or tails of, though that was irrelevant. I suddenly knew what I wanted to find.

Toward the back of the folio was another contract, the word
DRAFT
stamped across the front in bloodred. For good measure, each page held a background watermark declaring the same thing.

A quarter of the way in, I eyed the list of names, neatly centered and all in caps.

I ripped the sheet from the folio and pushed the leather folder aside, focusing solely on that one page. My heart rate doubled. I hadn't thought it possible. Felt a tinge of fear, in fact, at how rapidly it thundered in my chest. Not exactly healthy, but I couldn't slow the erratic beats.

Kyle dropped into a chair across from me. “What's up?”

I reached for one of Dane's favorite Montblanc fountain pens and circled four names: Mr. Dane Bax, Sultan Qadir Hakim, Mr. Ethan Evans, Mr. Nikolai Vasil.

I drew a line through the Honorable Bryn Hilliard's name. And stifled the laugh at the irony of his title.

I scanned further down the list. Put a thick slash through Dr. Lennox Avril's name as well.

Lifting my gaze, I stared at Kyle, hope racing through me.

One thought burned in my mind.

One very distinct and now-plausible reality resonated deep within me.

I couldn't fight the grin as I simply said, “He's alive.”

 

chapter 11

Kyle stared back. “
He
who?”

Spreading my arms wide, I told him, “Dane, of course.” Emotion and excitement flooded my veins.

“Oh, fuck.” Kyle got to his feet, started to pace. “Okay. I should have seen this coming. I am such an idiot,” he rambled. I watched with a raised brow. “I probably should have warned my aunt, so she could keep an eye out for this. Get you professional help. Like from a mental health thera—”

“I have professional help.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I see a counselor twice a week. She comes to the retreat. We talk about death—not so much Dane's, just in general. How to accept it, things like that. Mostly we talk about the baby. How to raise it on my own, what to expect.”

He drew up short. “You're not on your own.”

“Come on, Kyle. You've been great. No doubt. But you have a life, too. You've all but abandoned it to be with me.”

“No, I haven't,” he insisted. “I have a job. It just happens to be at the retreat where you're living.”

“You've been
so
helpful,” I reiterated. “Serious, life-saving helpful. But … I don't like to talk much about the baby with you because I know it pisses you off that I'm pregnant.”

He slumped back into the chair, disgruntled. “Couldn't you have waited? I mean, you got engaged one night, married two nights later, and then a month goes by and we find out you're having a baby? Jesus Christ, Ari. Take a few breaths in between.”

“It was an accident, like your sister, Shell.” I smirked. “Water under the bridge, anyway. Well, except that … I'm totally right about Dane.” I shoved the paper Kyle's way. “The names I circled? Good guys. The ones with the lines through them? Bad guys. Corrupt members of a secret society Dane belonged to.”

His jaw fell slack. “A
what
?”

I groaned. This was about to get complicated for him. “A political-economic society that tracks, trends, and analyzes markets and financial shit I can't even begin to understand. Suffice it to say, the goal was to effect positive change by influencing leaders and others with power. But five of the nine members, instead, used the information for personal gain.
These
guys,” I said as I waved the sheet in my hand.

There was a distinct edge to my voice and fury no doubt reflected in my eyes, riveting Kyle.

I told him, “Dane just brought down the first two—”

“Whoa, whoa,
whoa
!” Kyle leapt to his feet again. “First of all, Miss Conspiracy Theorist, how the fuck is there some sort of
secret society
?”

“An Illuminati faction, to be exact.”

“Like in
Tomb Raider?
”

I laughed. I'd said something similar, with the same amount of disbelief, when Dane had told me about his dual life.

“Kinda sorta, but not really. Anyway, it's been around for generations. Dane is the only one recruited who wasn't born of a founding member, from my understanding.”

“And why is this list important
now
?”

With an agitated sigh, because I'd expected him to keep up, I said, “They're the original investors in 10,000 Lux. Long before Dane realized they'd used the think-tank intellectual property of the society to line their own coffers, while others suffered the economic downfall. Dane, Ethan, and those I've circled did everything they could to put a stop to it. But they weren't wholly successful, so they've tried to extricate themselves.”

Kyle shook his head once more, this time quite sharply. “Of course he'd be part of a secret society. Was there
anything
normal about the guy?”

“Not that I'm aware of,” I conceded.

“Jesus.”

Rushing on, I said, “Remember that, after I'd been kidnapped, I told you Dane had cut out the corrupt members from the Lux before construction was underway? That's what all the trouble was about. The sabotage, the explosion, everything. They're responsible.”

“Goddamn, Ari. You know, your life would have been much less disastrous—and a hell of a lot safer—if you had just stuck with me the night of Sean and Meg's wedding. But no, you had to get wrapped up with Dark and Dangerous.” Kyle's tone was harsh, his voice thick with anger. Even his sky-blue eyes burned with rage.

This was a side of him I'd slowly seen emerging when it came to all the things he disapproved of in my life. And now it radiated from him.

Trying to diffuse his anger, I said, “Now's hardly the time for a lecture, Kyle.”

“Oh, I beg to differ!” he erupted. “'Cause I'm thinking I've given you
way
too much of the kid-glove treatment, when what you clearly need is a healthy dose of reality. For fuck's sake, Ari! People could have died!”

I jumped to my feet and slammed my palms against the desktop. “People
did
die, Kyle! At least—” The angst drained quickly. I plopped back into my chair. “That's what we were led to believe.”

“Oh, Christ.” He rolled his eyes and paced again, hands on his waist.

“Just listen, okay?” I was breathy once more, my chest heaving. “After the kidnapping, Dane promised me he'd find a legitimate way to bring these guys down. He was putting the squeeze on them, one way or the other. I have no idea what his plan was. But he obviously pushed them over the edge, because they planted a bomb inside the Lux. A
bomb!
”

“That killed your husband,” Kyle said acridly.

I glared at him.

He added, “I'm not trying to be cruel, Ari. I'm trying to get you to see the very cut-and-dried facts.”

“There aren't any,” I told him. “There's nothing cut-and-dried about this Illuminati bloc, Dane's involvement, or the shady members. Nothing about this scenario is black and white, Kyle. It's all gray area. Smoke and mirrors. Incredibly powerful people who have the resources to do whatever they please for their own personal gain. Except…”

I inhaled deeply, slowing myself down because I was jabbering a mile a minute. “Dane knew things. Enough to piece together evidence to prove these guys are corrupt—enough to warrant indictments. And even though a murder charge won't stick, because he's alive and Amano might be as well, they could still be charged with attempted murder, I'm sure. After all, there were about forty people inside that building they blew up. That has to equate to some serious prison time, in addition to all the other charges. Fucking with the IRS … you're just asking for a lengthy sentence there.”

Kyle paced some more. Swore under his breath. Then he faced me and demanded, “Are these …
shady members
 … so powerful they thought they could get away with bombing a hotel? That it wouldn't be traced back to them? Were they banking on Dane surrendering, letting them win rather than evening the score?”

“I don't know. I don't know how these people operate—other than on a level that defies comprehension. They have billions of dollars to throw at something like this, a network of powerful resources. If Dane, Ethan, and the others opted to not come forward, the bad guys would get off scot-free, because no way would the police be able to peg the culprits. Likely not even the FBI. They don't know Dane's connection to Hilliard and his group. What lead would they have to work with, aside from trying to pinpoint who placed explosives in the lobby of 10,000 Lux?”

Though I suddenly had a very good idea of who that might be—the one person who'd had access to security systems, facilities, IT, and the grounds, because he'd been a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades. And a weasel in disguise.

Wayne Horton.

The son of a bitch who'd helped to set
me
up when Vale had kidnapped and roughed me up.

My blood boiled. I took several deep breaths, trying to steady myself.

Gripping the back of the chair, Kyle said, “What makes you so sure Dane is alive and he's the one feeding the Feds or whoever information for indictments?”

“Because he told me he'd nail them legally.”

Kyle's brow jerked up. “As opposed to…?”

“Beating the living shit of each of them with his bare hands.”

As much as it had horrified me that Dane had attacked Vale, the idea of him throttling these men was now an appealing one. Not exactly a settling notion, since I'd personally witnessed what he was capable of—how far he'd go to protect me.

“Dane knew things about these guys,” I said, my belief still strong that he was offering evidence, despite Kyle's whole
this cannot be happening
expression. “What an excellent opportunity for him to push that evidence in the right direction, when everyone thinks he's dead. The supershady would never see it coming. Dane's totally blindsiding them.”