Looking at Josh, he asked, “Did you get the files I sent you from Helena?”
“Yeah. I’m not surprised she couldn’t make heads or tails of what Tercelli sent to her. I wasn’t exactly sure just from the files she had, so I…let’s just say, managed to get into his financial records so Cobb could do a little more digging.”
Everyone turned their attention toward Cobb, and he said, “First of all, Helena’s financial records are clean. But Frank’s are another matter. He’s slick, I gotta give him that. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s laundering money, but until this latest deal with Helena’s business, it looks like Kozlov hasn’t been involved.”
“Fuck. But the relationship between Frank and Kozlov is new?”
“At least from what I can tell,” Cobb confirmed.
Walker looked at him quizzically and asked, “How’s Helena?”
Meeting his eye and then glancing around the table at the others, it struck him suddenly that they really were like brothers. They might give each other shit, joke around, laugh at each other’s antics and make fun of their screw-ups. They might hit a bar, each looking for someone to pick up just for a night. But each one of those men would have his back, no matter what. He just had not realized, until that moment, that included where his heart was involved. Judging by the looks on every one of their faces, that currently meant having a certain degree of concern for him.
If they could give him that, he could at least give them honesty. Holding Walker’s gaze, he said, “I think she’s okay, but I have to say, this morning, when we talked things through, she was upset. The idea that Frank Tercelli might be involved in something like this hits her. Their families have been tied practically her whole life. It also hits her hard because she cares a great deal about what she’s doing and is passionate about helping others. Thinking that somebody could be using her to do something illegal has really thrown her.” Shaking his head, giving a little chuckle, he added, “I had to talk her down from doing something herself.” Seeing the wide eyes of the others around the table, he rushed, “Don’t worry, I talked her out of it.”
“How’d you do that?” Babs asked from the side, having been listening in.
Drew piped up from his seat, also having paid attention it seemed, and said, “Hell, Babs. Not every woman’s quite so bloodthirsty as you are.”
Her spine stiffened ever so slightly, a move he was sure, looking around the room, no one else had caught and it made him curious.
Shooting Drew a wink, she replied lightly “And don’t you forget it.” Shifting her gaze to him, she said, “I am curious…are you sure she’s not going to do anything?”
He felt Mace’s hard stare on him and he swung his gaze to his boss. “I explained that everything has to be done in a way that the Feds can take down anyone who’s doing anything illegal. I also told her that if she got involved, it could make things harder and we didn’t want that to happen.” Shrugging, he threw his hands, palm up, to the sides. “She’s not happy, but she understands. She’ll cooperate.”
Mace gave a short nod and turned back to the others. Walker met and held his gaze for a moment, then asked, “And what about you?”
Sucking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, he knew exactly what his friend was asking. The man knew him too well. Leaning forward slightly, his forearms resting on the table, he offerred, “I’m good. She and I are…” shrugging slightly, he admitted, “close. I don’t really know what we are, but I know she’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met.”
Everyone sat quietly and he was glad that the jokes were not flying at him. What he felt for Helena was too real, and a little too raw, for mirth.
Josh chimed in, “They got her place secure. Both home and office. We’ve got eyes and ears on it, so we’ll know if anything happens.”
With a nod of appreciation, he said, “Thanks,” before looking to Mace. “That’s all I’ve got right now.”
“Then everyone get back to work,” Mace ordered, standing up. “We’ve all got missions we need to accomplish.”
That afternoon, Rank decided to work off some tension in the workout room. With his back on the narrow, padded bench, he lifted weights with Drew as his spotter. The burn in his muscles felt good and he focused his attention on each rep.
When the heavy bar was settled back in the rack, Drew said, “It looks good on you, man.”
Sitting up, he grabbed the hand towel he had dropped onto the floor and wiped the sweat from his face before looking up at his friend. “Thank you very much, man,” he joked. “I’ve been working out a lot.”
“Haha,” Drew snapped his towel at him, hitting him on the knuckles.
“Ow!”
“I meant having a woman you give a shit about.”
Gaining the attention of Walker, Cobb and Babs, who were also in the gym, he shrugged. “She’s different. Actually, I took her back to my place last night.” Seeing the look of surprise on their faces, he chuckled. “Gotta admit, even though I thought she was a knockout when I first saw her, when we met—how we met—I was pissed as hell at her. But I couldn’t get her off my mind all the same. After we looked into her, I had all these expectations of who she would be, but now that I’m getting to know her, she’s nothing like I thought she’d be.”
Walker laughed, and said “So she’s not the rich girl princess you thought she’d be?”
Shaking his head, he replied, “Not at all. She lives off the money she gets from her grandparents’ trust, sure, but it’s so she doesn’t have to take a salary and she can give everything to her business. She invests that money, too, so she isn’t just draining her account. You’ve seen her place. It’s pretty modest, right? The car she drives? A piece of crap, but she says it runs so she doesn’t need anything new. She dresses nice, and I sure as hell don’t know anything about women’s clothing, but I’d bet my paycheck she doesn’t spend a lot on clothes. She doesn’t have to live like that, but she chooses to. And damn, she’s hot as fuck and yet when she walks through the room, she’s got no idea that every man there is staring at her.”
“Never heard you serious about someone, Rank,” Cobb said softly. “Drew’s right. It looks good on you.”
“She know you investigated her early on?” Babs asked, grabbing the heavy bag she had been walloping and stopping its swing before taking off her bag gloves. Not getting an answer, she continued, “She know you got her place watched?”
His smile dropped from his face as his lips pinched together. “Your point?”
“You want to build something with her, I think that’s great. You’re a good man and from all indications, she deserves you. But I’m telling you, you’d better come clean.”
“I’m telling her what I can, Babs. And she knows I’m working the case and there’s only so much I can tell her. There’s only so much I can explain to her right now. You know what it’s like in the middle of a mission.”
He watched as something dark slid through her eyes before it was quickly replaced and he scrunched his brow. Her lopsided grin firmly back on her face, she said, “Hope it works, man. I’d like to have another woman in the fold. Sylvie and I could use the addition to our numbers.”
Drew looked over at her and quipped, “Come on, Babs. You love all us men.”
She walked by and popped him with the towel that had been hanging around her neck. “Hell, boys, all this testosterone makes the gym stink. Why don’t y’all go take a shower?” Wiggling her eyebrows, she said, “That’s what I plan on doing.” She sauntered out of the room toward the smaller bathroom that Mace had designated for the women, leaving them all staring in her wake.
A long hiss of air left Drew’s lips and Rank laughed. “I don’t know if I envy or pity the man that finally tames that one.” Standing, he admitted, “But, she’s right. I need to talk to Helena. But first I’d better wash the stink off of me.”
Helena greeted Todd and Anna when she finally got into the office. Looking over her newest non-profit
s to vet, she decided to spend the afternoon visiting several places that had requested funding. She grabbed her purse and walked to the lobby.
“I’m heading out, guys. I’m gonna go visit the Hopewell Daycare. I think once I get it done, I’ll probably call it a day.”
Todd nodded and smiled, turning his attention back to the papers in his hand. As she was walking out the door, Anna answered the phone.
“I believe she has just stepped out, Mr. Tercelli. Let me check for you.” Anna looked up and asked, “Hey, boss, Mr. Frank Tercelli is on the line. Do you want to talk to him now, or just call them back at another time?”
Her mind battled over what to do. Technically she was available, but she didn’t know what she should say to him right now. She really needed to check in with Rank. Giving her head a little shake, she said, “I’d rather speak with him at another time. I was on my way out anyway, so you can tell him he just missed me. It’s not really a lie, right?”
Anna laughed, and said, “Aw, Helena. I’d lie for you anytime. See you tomorrow.”
As she headed out the door, she heard Anna back on the phone, telling Mr. Tercelli that she would call him at another time.
Frank hung up the phone, his gaze boring into the man so casually sitting on the other side of the limousine. “She’s not in today,” he said shortly.
Anatoly’s black eyes seared into his. “That doesn’t make me happy,” he stated, his voice cold and impersonal.
“I can’t do anything about your happiness,” he quipped. “If she’s not available, she’s not available.”
Anatoly shifted slightly in his seat, brushing imaginary dust from his suit lapel. “I need that money available. I need it available now. You promised me—”
“I did no such thing,” he growled. “I offered you a possible solution to your cash flow problem, but I made no promises as to when things would happen.”
The tense silence in the vehicle weighed heavily in the air, unspoken threats snapping between them. After a moment that seemed to last forever, Anatoly opened his door and stepped out. Taking advantage of his higher position, he looked down at him and sneered. “I would suggest that you encourage Ms. Jernigan to move the money quickly. I have a deal that is waiting for that money and my customers will not be happy with any delay.”
Before he had a chance to respond, Anatoly added, “I already had to clean up your mess with that Griffey fellow, don’t make me do the same with this woman. Don’t forget, Frank, I can always make things uncomfortable for the new Senator, too. I’m sure we’d rather avoid that unpleasantness.” With that threat now hanging in the air, he slammed the door and walked toward his vehicle.
Frank sat for a few minutes, the churning in his stomach making him wonder if he needed to make another trip back to his doctor. A drop of sweat rolled from his forehead and he swiped at it in irritation. He ran a multibillion-dollar industry and all he could think of was that this one man could bring him to his knees. Or kill me, like Lawrence.
With that thought making his stomach churn more, he climbed out and slammed the door. Walking into his building, he pulled out his phone. Having to go through a few secretaries and assistants, he finally got hold of the man he needed.
“Hello, Paul,” he greeted, his voice cheery. “I just wanted to thank you for suggesting that your daughter speak to me about her charitable business. She and I have already begun working together on a few projects and I really admire what she’s doing.”
He listened for a moment as Helena’s father chatted away about his daughter, then interrupted by asking, “I have a meeting I need to go to in a few minutes, but I wanted to ask you something. I called her office and she’s out for the day, but I really need to let her know about a couple of the donors and their special requests. I wanted to do this before she worked too hard on something that was going to have to be changed later. I was wondering if perhaps I could get her cell phone number.” Grabbing a pen from his holder, he began to scribble. “That’s great, Paul. Thank you so much. Make sure to give your wife a kiss for me. We’ll have to go out and play golf soon.”
Disconnecting, he walked into his office and fell back into his chair. Sighing, he refused to call Helena immediately, wanting to make sure he had thought through what he was going to say to her. Angry at himself for ever getting involved with Kozlov, he knew he had no choice now but to see things through to the end. He just prayed that the end would include keeping both his life and his son’s political career intact.
15
Helena stood at the door of the Hopewell Daycare, shaking hands with the director, Tonya. “I’m so impressed with your program,” she said, her smile genuine.
“Thank you. We were so happy to have you come visit. I think for someone to get a feel for what we’re doing here, you really need to come and see it for yourself.”
She had spent the past hour at the Center seeing the preschool for underprivileged children that allowed them to get a head start in learning what they would need to know to be successful when they started school. The Center ran almost entirely on grants and donations, which kept their fees at an absolute minimum for the parents.
As she walked back to her car she felt light. This was one of her favorite parts of her job—being able to get out of her office and into the communities to see what needs were out there and how she could match donations with those needs.
Sitting in her car for a few minutes, she decided what to do next. Her visits had taken less time than she had anticipated, so she could go back into the office, but she was not sure she wanted to do that today. Pulling out a file from her briefcase, her eyes ran down the list of other places she might be able to squeeze in a visit to. Her gaze landed on Barker Services and she paused. That was one of the charitable organizations on Frank’s list…one that Mr. Kozlov specifically wanted to support.
Biting her lip in indecision for a moment, she glanced at the address. It was only about ten miles away. Mind made up, she programmed the address into her GPS and started down the road. Fifteen minutes later, she sat in a parking lot, staring at an empty storefront in a strip mall. On one side was a grocery store and on the other was a hardware store, with several empty stores scattered in between, including the one matching her address.
When she had looked up Barker Services on the Internet she had been unable to find anything, but since she had an address on her list, she figured she would give it a shot. It did not look like the address was correct though, given the state of things. While contemplating what to do next, she noticed a woman dressed casually in slacks and a blue blouse walk up to the storefront and unlock the front door. Curious, she climbed from her car and followed.
When she tried the door, she found it locked and could see no one inside. Rapping on the glass, she waited and then rapped again harder, wincing as pain shot through her knuckles. Hoping she would not have to knock any more, she leaned forward and cupped her hands around her eyes, peering inside.
Seeing the woman walking up from the back, she took a step backward and waited. The woman, her dark hair cut in a shoulder-length bob, stopped at the door and spoke loudly, leaving it closed in between them. “I’m sorry, we’re not open for business.”
“I just came by to speak to someone about the organization,” she said through the glass. “Can you please let me in?”
The woman’s lips were pinched, but she pushed the door open from the inside, allowing her to step just inside, but no further. A quick glance showed her that the storefront, at least the part that she could see, was indeed empty.
“I really shouldn’t have you in here,” the woman said. “I’m just here to pick up mail. What are you looking for?”
Suspicion crawled up her spine and, tilting her head to the side, she said. “I’m looking for Barker Services.”
A flash of something moved through the woman’s eyes, but was quickly replaced with nonchalance as she drew herself up and replied, “And what would you need with Barker Services?”
Plastering a false smile on her face, she said, “That is between me and the organization that I’m hoping to speak to someone about. Do you represent Barker Services?”
“No,” the woman said sharply.
“And yet this is the address of the business and you obviously have heard of them. So if you don’t represent them and they aren’t actually in this building, then can you tell me where they are?”
“They…they don’t keep someone here full time,” the woman stammered. “I’m just here to pick up any mail that has been delivered.”
The woman stepped a foot closer to her, as though to herd her out the door, but she stood her ground, refusing to back up or be intimidated. “So, they receive mail here, but no one actually works here? That’s interesting.”
“I’m afraid I’m going have to ask you to leave now. I have somewhere else I need to be.”
Her mind raced with how much information she should give the woman in order to get some in return. She toyed with the idea of telling her who she was and why she was checking into Barker Services, but decided not to say anything until she had a chance to check with Rank. Instead, she simply said, “Thank you for your assistance.”
Turning, she pushed her way through the door and walked back to her car. Once inside, she could barely make out the woman still standing on the inside, a phone now pressed to her ear as she stared back at her.
Deciding to drive back toward her office, she was not surprised when her phone rang before she had a chance to get very far.
“Helena, my dear. It’s Frank…Frank Tercelli.”
“Hello, Mr. Tercelli. I didn’t realize you had my cell phone number.”
“I just happened to be talking to your father to plan another golf outing and mentioned that I needed to get hold of you. He was kind enough to give me your phone number.”
Grimacing, she realized she needed to let her father know that he was not to give out her personal number to anyone. “Well, now that you have me, what can I do for you?”
Rank: Lighthouse Security Investigations Series Page 13