by Desiree Holt
“We can’t wait too long, or we’ll be in trouble. People have expectations and operations cannot simply be halted like this, just because Craig is…dead.”
“I hope you didn’t have anything to do with that,” the other voice murmured, the words barely audible.
“Damn it, no. I told you. But you know who might have and that really screws things up.”
“I promise you that will not happen. There’s too much at stake. Our partners would never stand for it.”
“They aren’t—”
“Ssh. Hastings is about to say something. We can’t discuss this anymore, especially here. Later, I’ll make a phone call.”
More than anything Lindsey wanted to look over her shoulder without being obvious, but there just wasn’t any way to do it. And of course not during the service. Natalia and her retinue were ushered in from the alcove and seated in front. The pastor of their church opened the service and the eulogy was delivered by a cousin of Craig’s. She wondered why neither Podesta nor Merriam had been invited to speak. That was a most interesting question.
At last, they were requested to stand while the coffin was taken from the chapel and out to the hearse. Now she was able to see who had been sitting behind her. She looked at them, stunned to see George Merriam and Frank Podesta rising from their seats.
Well, that validates what we were thinking. Holy shit!
She was sure now Craig had said or done something that made him a liability. But who had made that decision? And who had done the deed?
“Cemetery, right?” Taylor checked as they got into the car.
“Yes,” Lindsey agreed, “but I have to tell you something.”
“Let’s get out of here first,” Noah said. He set the electronic directions for the cemetery and wheeled the car out of the parking lot. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Two men behind me were whispering before the service began.”
“I heard them, also. Thanks for the nudge, Lindsey.”
“I wanted someone besides me listening, so I didn’t get it wrong.” She repeated what she’d heard, adding, “When I looked, it was Frank Podesta and George Merriam. And what they said fits right in with what we were discussing earlier today.”
John pursed his lips in a soft whistle. “Heavyweights in the business world, including on the international stage. That means our sense that this was much bigger than we first imagined was right on target.”
“Indeed, it does,” Taylor agreed. “You know, they’ve actually approached me in the past about doing some business deals with Arroyo. Podesta even asked to set up a meeting on one of our visits to the area.”
Lindsey knew that Taylor and Noah visited the Miami–Fort Lauderdale area twice a year. They had other interests besides Elite and, as a power couple, were much sought-after.
Noah pulled onto a wider street. “If you weren’t so obsessed about never giving anyone more than a certain slice of the pie,” he told his wife, “you might already be involved.”
“And a damn good thing I am. Otherwise I’d be in the soup more than we already are. It makes every nerve in my body tell me we still don’t have the full picture of what we’re dealing with.” Taylor leaned her head back on the headrest. “If my board of directors knew I’d allowed some kind of deep, shady business to go on with one of our subsidiaries, they’d ask for my resignation on the spot.”
“Let’s remember,” Noah told her, “some of them were there during the big mess when you inherited the company. They’re not in any position to throw stones.”
“Maybe not, but I feel like throwing stones at myself. Damn, Noah. This thing has big international implications. I wonder if Natalia is aware of it.”
He shrugged. “Hard to say. My first guess would be no, but anything is possible. John, as soon as we get back to the office you need to hit those accounts again.”
“No kidding.”
“And I’m going to put in another call to Charley Graham,” Noah added. “I want him to put his people on this at once. I should have used them to check Elite, but who knew I’d need a high-level security agency rather than one that vetted businesses?”
“Enough with that. Stop beating yourself up. The system has worked up until now. These are some very high-level, devious people used to camouflaging everything they do. They were ahead of you before you started. But now we’re getting on top of things, or at least making a good start.”
Lindsey cleared her throat. “Here’s a question for you. Well, two, actually. Or three. If Craig was hooked up with these people in something high-level and illegal, why get involved with Arroyo and take the chance of being found out? Second, who do you think killed Craig? Someone had to substitute those pills at some point and not too long before it happened. It wouldn’t have taken too many doses to affect him the way it did.”
“And your third?” John prodded.
“Why?” she asked. “What happened to make them decide they had to get rid of him?”
“If we find the answers to the first two,” Noah told her, “I think we can figure out the third. We have some heavy work to do, people.”
“We should collect our gear as soon as we get to the office and work from the hotel tonight instead of the office. Just in case.” Taylor shook her head. “I’m not even sure the hotel is that secure. Who knows who might be around? And if these people are as high-level and sophisticated as we think, they could even compromise the hotel electronic setup and ghost what we’re doing.”
Lindsey wet her lips, wondering if she should open her mouth, but then thought, What the hell. It’s all about security.
“Why don’t we work at my house?”
Taylor shifted in the front seat so she could look at her. “Your house?”
“Yes. I have a big dining room table we can use, and I’m paranoid about security. I update the firmware regularly and keep the remote administration turned off. And change the password every month.”
“Jesus, Lindsey.” John chuckled. “Maybe you should be working for Liam at Software By Design.”
She shook her head. “This is as much as I want to get into it. But some of the work I bring home is proprietary and I always have a fear of being hacked. So you’re more than welcome to do this.”
“I say yes,” Noah told them. “It’s up to you, Taylor, but—”
“I agree. Thank you, Lindsey.”
“We should stop at the office so I can get my car and we can pick up our laptops. I can copy everything from our system that I’m working on onto a thumb drive. John?” He hadn’t said a word yet, and she wondered if she should have opened her big mouth. “You okay with this?”
Taylor laughed. “I’m sure he will be. But, John? Do you want to stop by the hotel first and get your things? It might be easier for you if you just move into Lindsey’s house.”
Lindsey froze, not sure if she should laugh or cry.
“Uh…”
“I know you two think you’re being so cool and professional about all this, but I also know you haven’t slept in your room. Since I think it’s safe to assume you aren’t bedding down in the street or a cheap motel, and I happened to see Lindsey drop you off yesterday morning to shower and change, I think I’m drawing the right conclusions.”
Noah chuckled. “My wife is better than any detective. And by the way, I think it’s a great idea. Neither of us could figure out why you stayed away for four years, John.”
He heaved a sigh. “Damn. I guess I’d never make it in the stealth business.”
“Me neither,” Lindsey agreed. “Taylor, please don’t think—”
“Someday remind me to tell you the story of Noah and me, when all this is over. When you find someone who’s right, jump on it.”
Beside her, John relaxed. “You might as well check me out of the hotel. Jesus. It’s a good thing I’m an accountant and not a secret agent.”
Lindsey managed a smile, but she hadn’t changed her mind. She’d enjoy this while it lasted, but wh
en John’s assignment was over, she’d still be the one to walk away.
Chapter Fifteen
Mia Silva stared at her parents, anger surging through her. She was twenty years old, almost twenty-one, and they still treated her as if she was twelve.
“I would like to go somewhere. For a change, without being driven by a bodyguard and watched every single minute. I would like to have some privacy for a change.”
Arturo Silva stared back at her, the muscle twitching in his cheek evidence of the frustration he was feeling. A self-made billionaire who had left the streets of Mexico behind long ago, he had made it clear he did not want his daughter doing things that could put her in danger. And to his way of thinking, almost everything she wanted to do fit that description.
“I know what goes on in the streets out there,” he snapped. “How dangerous it is. I worked hard to pull myself out of that. Do you think I want something to happen to you?”
She glared at him, then resumed her pacing. “It’s just as dangerous for every other female out there, but you don’t see them kept under lock and key, do you?”
“I know that every parent who is able to makes the effort. If you had an older brother, I’d feel a lot better about this.”
“Oh, great.” She threw up her hands. “So I’d have someone riding herd on me every single minute? No, thank you, mi padre. I can handle it myself.”
“You are not going out there by yourself.” Her mother’s voice was unyielding.
Esme Silva could be just as indomitable a force as her husband. Sometimes even more so. Mia stared at the woman whose snapping black eyes and rich black hair were so much like her own.
“I won’t be by myself. You know I am going with Sassy, Luz and Rubi. You had them picked up already. We will all be together.” She closed her eyes and recited as if by rote, “We won’t go off alone. We won’t leave each other. We won’t go off with strangers. We will have our cell phones turned on and ready at all times.”
Mia was startled when her mother surprised her by laughing.
“I know we drill all this into you,” she said, “but please know, it is just to keep you secure on the streets of big cities. Safety first.”
“Mama.” Mia heaved a sigh. “It is no safer anywhere else.”
Her father relaxed a fraction and smiled at her.
“Maybe in part. But trust me, I will be worried every minute you are gone.”
“I know, and we won’t be out too late. You don’t have to send Jaime, okay? We’ll take a cab back and the girls will spend the night here, just as you asked.”
Her parents had sent Jaime Roland, her father’s driver-slash-bodyguard, to pick up her friends and bring them here so when she joined them they could head to the restaurant right away. A place she knew her parents had vetted to within an inch of its life. What they didn’t know was they’d just be spending a few minutes there. She could hardly wait. She was in love with the color and energy of Miami and South Beach, a place where she came alive. She had to get out on her own. She just had to.
“Okay. Fine.” But he still didn’t look any too pleased.
Mia gave each of her parents a kiss and a little hug, grabbed her purse and danced out of the door. She was in the battle of her life to move into a place of her own, but damn it, she was going to win it. She couldn’t spend her life locked up in the consulate. She and her friends, whose parents were just as suffocating, had secret plans to rent adjoining apartments. Everyone had a job, even her, despite her father’s griping about it, although it wasn’t the one she wanted. Working as a translator at the consulate was a long way from being a model, but it was the kind of job her father didn’t object to. She’d been saving her money, had everything planned and this weekend she intended to make a very big pitch.
Her friends, waiting for her in the reception area of the consulate, rushed to greet her.
“Group hug!” she squealed.
They did so, but with great care, because of their hair and makeup. Then they turned to Jaime, who stood at the door.
“You are only to drive us there,” she reminded him. “No hanging around and spying.”
He just grinned and ushered them out and into the car.
“You all have your cell phones?” he asked when they scrambled out at their destination.
They all held them up obediently.
“And you will be ready at one o’clock when I return?”
“Yes, Jaime,” they chorused, then made faces at him.
Mia watched him as he laughed then drove off.
“Okay,” she said to the others. “Are we all set?”
“If your father finds out,” Sassy said, “he’ll skin you alive.”
“I am almost twenty-one,” she pouted. “It is time I stand up for myself.”
“Okay, but first let’s have fun, before he locks you away for the next ten years.”
They entered the restaurant, waved off the hostess, made their way to the back and out through the rear door, then across the alley and into the nightclub that backed up to it. Well, Mia thought, maybe nightclub was too fancy. More like a high-end cantina, but they loved the place. They’d managed to sneak into it a couple of times before just as they had now.
The restaurant portion was upstairs in the balcony while the first level was a dance floor, complete with flashing lights and a high-energy disk jockey. A place where they could eat dinner, have a few drinks, a few laughs. Nothing outrageous or dangerous. Just a good time. They might be young, but they were not stupid, and they had scoped the place out good before their first visit, asked their friends and decided it was an okay place to spend the evening.
They climbed the stairs and were lucky to claim a table right by the railing. They ordered appetizers to start, along with a pitcher of margaritas, and sat back to enjoy themselves.
“Ooh, look!” Sassy squealed and pointed.
The hostess was seating two couples on the third level, the VIP level.
“OMG!” Rubi slapped her hands against her cheeks. “It’s Nona! Right here. In this very place.”
Mia caught her breath. Nona was an internationally known model whose face could be seen everywhere—magazines, billboards, whatever. That was who Mia wanted to be. A model like that. Posing for magazine ads and modeling in fashion shows. Mia had done two shows in the past six months, shows her mother had organized for fundraisers she was in charge of.
“I know you think this is such a glamorous life,” her mother had told her. “It’s not. It’s long hours and hard work and sometimes with unpleasant people. I want you to have fun, so I hope doing these shows answers your need for it.”
On the contrary, it had just whetted her appetite for more. And it was a glamorous life, no matter what her mother said. It was everything she was missing. But she’d have to do this with a great deal of care, find out how to work around it or her very old-fashioned parents would find a way to lock her up until she was eighty. She wanted fun and success. To travel to places and meet new people. To be the face of something, like other models were.
She couldn’t stop watching Nona and her escort as they relaxed at their table. The wait staff danced attention on them, and it was obvious they were thrilled to have such a celebrity in their place of business. Nona’s hair was swept back from her face in her signature style, just brushing her shoulders. She wore an electric-blue dress with a deep vee neck, complemented by pendant earrings. Every move she made was performed with such fluid grace.
Mia wanted so much to run up to her and ask her how she’d done it all. How she’d gotten her first job. What agency had she used? But she satisfied herself with surreptitious use of her phone to take pictures.
Sassy noticed what she was doing. “You’re not going to stalk her, are you? God, Mia. Are you still hung up on that modeling stuff?”
“It’s not stuff,” Mia snapped. “It’s what I want to be. And I know I could be a good one. Don’t you have a dream? Something you want to do or be?”
<
br /> Like her, all her friends came from wealthy families. But unlike her, their ambition was to have a good time, marry a handsome man who also had a lot of money, have babies and take their places in society. Mia wanted the same, of course, but not until after she’d made a name for herself. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her days just as so-and-so’s wife.
“Yes.” She grinned. “I want to have fun. And you should, too. Come on, the deejay is starting. Let’s dance until they bring our dinner.”
As the notes of the first song bounced into the air, they hit the dance floor. Within seconds they were twisting their hips to the beat, arms in the air, heads thrown back. They were breathless when the first song ended and the deejay slid without a hitch into the second. But after two more songs, when they looked up and saw the waiter putting plates on their table, they headed back to the stairs.
“Wow!” Rubi shook her hair back as she bounced up the stairs. “This is great. Let’s eat and dance some more.”
Dinner, as always, was great, although it wasn’t the food that drew them to this place. They chattered throughout the meal, catching up on gossip although they’d been together just a week ago and they spoke daily. The waiter cleared their dishes and refilled the pitcher of margaritas. Mia was sure, between the food and the exercise of dancing, the alcohol would have only a mild effect on her. Just enough for her to let loose and have fun.
She was sipping her drink and watching her friends down below on the dance floor when a man slid into the chair opposite her. An unbelievably sexy and good-looking man, dressed impeccably in a sport jacket and slacks that screamed money.
“I’ve been watching you.” He smiled. “You make a great impression.”
“Me? Oh, well, thank you but—”
“Forgive me, I am doing this all wrong.” Reaching into the inside breast pocket of his sport jacket, the man pulled out a slim leather folder and extracted a business card. “Please. Take this. You will see that I am legitimate.”
Mia looked at the pasteboard card and rubbed her thumb over the embossed printing as she studied it.