He shook his head. “Our anniversary is next month, and I convinced myself she’d bought something for me as a surprise. And since she took the time to crunch it up, I thought if I mentioned it to her, she’d either be mad at me for spoiling the surprise or think I was snooping around her vehicle, even though I wasn’t.”
“What did you do with the business card? Do you still have it?”
“I didn’t see any reason to keep it, so I tossed it out. I remember the name on the card, though. Strand Jewelry Company. The business card said they buy and sell jewelry.”
I wondered if the tennis bracelet might have come from there. “Why don’t we drive over when they open and find out?”
CHAPTER 25
Inconvenient. It was the perfect word to describe the last twenty-four hours of Max’s life. He didn’t like being inconvenienced. He didn’t accept being inconvenienced. And yet, here he was, standing at the mini-bar in his office, pouring himself his second glass of cognac while mulling over the best way to clean up Jonas’s unbelievable fiasco.
Max avoided getting involved in the “business end” of things, even though the business was his own. It was why he hired others, handpicked the right men to do it for him. It was why he paid them so generously. He expected compliance without question, and he was used to getting it. Anything else was unacceptable and not tolerated.
He took another sip of his drink and thought of a quote his father had told him when he was just starting out in life, before he’d made the kind of money he made today. His father had said an organization was only as strong as its weakest link. If his father were still alive now, he’d be proud to see all Max had achieved by the age of fifty-five. It was far more than his father had ever achieved in his life.
Max didn’t allow weak links, and right now, he had one. A chink in the chain. Where there was one, there would be more, unless the matter was handled.
An example had to be made.
He set the empty glass on the bar, rubbed a hand over his trimmed beard, and lifted a large framed print of wild horses splashing through a river from the wall. Behind the picture was a television. He switched it on. One large screen became six smaller screens, two rows of three—surveillance cameras he used to check up on a few of his most valued employees. He clicked a button in the top right corner. Various angles of Jonas’s house sparked to life.
He zoomed in on the top screen and didn’t like what he was seeing. He supposed he could call on one of his men to take care of it, but at this point, he’d grown weary of not getting the results he wanted. And even though he expected his men would do what needed to be done, most of them liked Jonas enough to make Max question their allegiance, something he’d never needed to be concerned about before. Taking Jonas down required the best, and in his mind, there was no one better for the job than himself.
CHAPTER 26
For the last hour, Jonas had struggled with a dilemma: find a discreet way to warn Seth his life was in danger without giving away his involvement in Juliette’s murder, or leave Seth to his own devices. The problem was Seth didn’t have any devices. As nice as the guy was, he’d always been on the ignorant side. Jonas doubted Seth even owned a firearm. If he did, in all likelihood, he didn’t know how to use it, which made owning one a complete waste. Jonas cared for the guy, but he had to concentrate on the survival of his own family now, and he’d finally made up his mind. He’d grab Nora from Kim, pick up his wife, and the three of them would start a new life somewhere they could stay completely off the grid, untouchable by Max.
He grabbed his cell phone off the counter and dialed.
Come on, come on, pick up.
The phone rang five times and went to voicemail. Maybe Kim was asleep. He sent her a text to call as soon as she received his message and made another call.
Anna’s faint, tired voice said, “Babe, what’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry to wake you. How are your parents doing?”
“Good. They’re glad I came to see them. Why are you calling so early in the morning?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.”
“Aww, you’re sweet. I’ll be home soon. How’s Seth doing? We’ve been following the story on the news. I tried calling him earlier. He didn’t answer, though. I’m sure he has a lot going on. When I get back I’ll see if there’s anything I can do for him.”
She was unlike any woman he’d ever met—kind, loving, and more concerned about others than she was with herself. In that moment, he remembered all the times he’d been unfaithful, wishing now he would have been the man she’d always deserved. He could be better, and he would be, for her and for Nora.
“Seth is struggling. It hasn’t been easy for him. Juliette’s sister is here, and it looks like she’s staying with him for now. I’m sure it helps.”
“What about Nora? Have they found her yet?”
“Not yet. Police are still looking into it. Listen, I was thinking ... I’ve worked too much lately, and it’s been a while since we went away together. Why don’t I pick you up from your parents’ house and take you away for a week? Hell, maybe even two weeks.”
“Really? Where?”
“It’s a surprise. Don’t bother coming back home, okay?”
“I need to, though. I only brought enough clothes for a few days here.”
“I’ll pack all your things,” he said.
“Sounds good. I can’t wait.”
“Me either, honey. See you soon.”
Jonas ended the call, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and grabbed the handles on two bags of luggage. He rounded the corner into the living room, jumping back when he noticed a dark shadow looming in the room with him. He wasn’t alone. “Max. How did you get in here?”
Max walked to the sofa and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. A Glock 19 rested on his lap. He appeared cool and controlled, like always. Over time Jonas had learned something about Max. The calmer Max was, the more cause there was for concern.
“Hello, Jonas. Going somewhere?”
Jonas moved a hand to his waist, tensing when he realized his gun wasn’t there. In his haste to get things moving, he’d taken it off and put it on the desk by the front door, intending to grab it when he left. “After what’s happened in the last day, I need a break. I assume you heard my phone call to Anna?”
“I hear all your phone calls. I see things too. Are you surprised?”
Jonas shifted his eyes to his gun on the desk. It was a good seven or eight feet away. Too far. If Max raised his weapon, there was no way he’d reach it in time. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you knock?”
Max placed a hand over the Glock, patting it like it was a pet. “Do you know how much of an inconvenience it is for me to take care of things myself—to smooth over problems I pay you all to resolve for me?”
“I know it didn’t go as planned yesterday. I apologize. I should have handled it better. I thought we were going to talk about it when I stopped by this morning.”
“What happened to you, Jonas? You used to be the one man I could count on to get the job done. You’re self-destructing.”
“I’m the same man I’ve always been. It’s just ... it was different this time. The others I’ve killed, they weren’t personal. I didn’t know them. They were just a job.”
“It’s a paycheck. Personal. Not personal. It shouldn’t matter.”
“It does matter though. I cared for Juliette. I thought you did too.”
“This discussion isn’t about Juliette.”
“Of course it is. Everything that’s happening is because of her.”
“I trained you. You aren’t just someone who works for me. I consider you family. At least I did until yesterday.”
Jonas took one step toward the desk, a casual step he hoped wouldn’t raise much suspicion, even though he knew he’d be a fool to think Max hadn’t expected it. “I may not have handled things with Juliette the way you wanted, but as ha
rd as it was, and as much as I didn’t want to do it, I still took care of her for you.”
“You didn’t do it, though. You left it to Victor. You screwed everything up, Jonas. You put all I’ve worked for in jeopardy.”
“I never meant for it to blow back on you. It was a mistake. A lack in judgment. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re right. It won’t.”
There was room for interpretation in Max’s words, but Jonas had to assume the worst. “What are you not saying?”
Max looked him in the eye. “You don’t think I keep tabs on your life? Your wife? Your family? Your whores? I have to say, if I had to pick the one thing I’ll miss the most, it will be watching your wife undress.”
Watching my wife? When? And how?
And then it came to him.
Cameras.
But where? He’d suspected Max had been keeping an eye on him once before, but when he’d done a thorough check of the house, he found nothing. Now, he stood there, glancing around, assuming cameras had been hidden in just about every room of the house. He should have known. Where were they, and how long had they been there?
He thought of his wife—her privacy—his privacy.
Violated.
Max wasn’t there to talk, and he hadn’t revealed he’d had him under surveillance for nothing. He was there to kill him. If Jonas had any chance for survival, he had to take action—now. He leapt for his gun, but before he could reach it, Max pointed the Glock and issued a warning. “Unless you want to die in the next few seconds, don’t do it.”
“Die in the next few seconds? As opposed to what—dying five minutes from now?”
Max fingered the Glock in his hand, admiring it. “You know something? I love this gun. You gave it to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. Remember?”
It was paradoxical, given the circumstances.
“Is that why you brought it—one last lesson you want to teach me before you end my life? They’ll hear it as soon as it fires.”
“Seth is your only neighbor on this street. Let him come. I’ll solve two problems at once. Three if he brings the sister-in-law along.”
Jonas raised his hands in front of him. “We can fix this. I’ll help you. Everything can return to normal again.”
Max leaned forward. “You had it all, you know. Anna’s a beautiful little thing. Charming and loving. One hell of a good cook. She’s the kind of woman who makes a man want to clean up his act. Not you, though. You were never satisfied with one. You always had to have your side ornaments.”
“Stop it, Max. Mock me all you like, but leave Anna out of this.”
“Why? You worried I’ll kill her too? I wouldn’t, you know.”
“You have no reason to. If you’ve been watching like you say you have, then you know she doesn’t know anything about my work life. She never has.”
“Oh, I know she doesn’t. And I can’t help but wonder what she’ll say when I tell her the truth about who you really are and what you’ve done. She’ll be so disappointed to hear about Juliette. Even more to hear about who you really are.”
“I didn’t kill Juliette.”
Max threw his head back and laughed. “You didn’t kill her? Oh, no. Of course you didn’t. You just made sure the lamb made it to the slaughter.”
“I did it for you! On your orders!”
“And whom will your wife believe if you’re not around to correct her? I must say, it’s timed out just right—the loss of one woman has provided an open door for the other.”
Jonas had managed to move a good three feet since the conversation started. The gun was almost within his reach. He lunged for it again. Max fired. The bullet entered Jonas’s chest, and he sank to the floor. Max leapt off the couch and crouched down, hovering over Jonas, the pistol pressed against Jonas’s head.
“Why do you think I sent Adam here last night? I had to know what you’d done with Nora. Turns out, she wasn’t here, which means you’ve stowed her away somewhere.”
Jonas pressed a hand to his own chest. Blood spilled out of the open wound. Max hadn’t hit a major artery. Not yet. There was still time to talk his way out of it. “What are you talking about? I told Adam I’d bring her to you in the morning. I was just leaving to go and get—”
Max reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, shoving it in Jonas’s face. “You should know you aren’t as clever as you think you are. We didn’t search long before we found where you hid Nora. See for yourself.”
Jonas looked at the photo on Max’s phone screen.
No.
It can’t be ...
“See this?” Max said. “See what I had to do? This is your fault. It’s all your fault.”
Kim’s beautiful face was covered in blood.
Jonas jerked his head to the side. “Get it away from me. I’ve seen enough, Max. Don’t make me see what you did to Nora.”
“What I did to Nora? You must really think I’m an animal.”
“Aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t harm a hair on the child’s precious head.”
“Why is she so important? Why was she worth going after? Why do you want her?”
“If you were loyal, it wouldn’t matter. When you refused to bring her to me, you questioned my judgment, and I knew you could no longer be trusted.”
“I’ve been nothing but loyal to you since the first day we met.”
Max jerked his head toward the hallway. “The bags you just packed suggest otherwise. You were leaving, Jonas. And not coming back. Don’t make me out to be a sucker.”
“None of this would be happening if you wouldn’t have killed Juliette for your own selfish reasons. She chose to run instead of staying with you, and you couldn’t handle it.”
“Handle it? I couldn’t allow her to leave. Knowing what she did, I couldn’t let her go. No matter how much I cared for her. It was her decision to leave, not mine. I did everything I could to keep her here, and it still wasn’t enough. She knew the consequences.”
“You say you won’t harm Nora. Let’s say I believe you. What will happen to her?”
“She’s young. The life I will provide for her will be so lavish she won’t remember anything that came before it. Her life now will fade away, replaced with a new story and new memories. It will be like all of this never happened.”
Jonas laughed. “You’re fooling yourself, Max. She may not be three years old yet, but she’ll never forget her mother.”
As if to punctuate that truth, Jonas delivered a head-butt to Max’s face. The Glock sailed through the air. Jonas drew back a fist and then let it fly, Max’s face again the target. Max recoiled. Jonas shoved Max out of his way, racing to reach his own pistol first. Max went the opposite direction, retrieving the Glock before Jonas got to his weapon. He spun around and aimed. “Don’t move, Jonas.”
With his second failed attempt at retrieving his gun, he turned toward Max. “You’re a sick man. A sick, twisted man.”
Max screwed his face into a smile, saying one last thing before firing the final shot into Jonas’s skull. “And you, my friend, are a dead one.”
CHAPTER 27
Having successfully dropped Nora off with Max’s sister per Max’s instructions, it was time for Adam to do what he did best. He placed an untraceable call and listened to the instructions that followed. The subject on today’s docket was Mr. Charles VanHorn, a wealthy casino owner who had been cheating on his wife with the neighbor across the street every Tuesday and Friday morning between the hours of six and eight while his wife was away at spin class, maintaining an impressive figure for her unappreciative, older husband.
The affair had gone on for a few months, and Mr. VanHorn believed his wife was none the wiser. If there was one thing Adam had learned in his profession, women were far more intelligent than their husbands gave them credit for. Being suspicious in nature, it was a rare instance when a woman wasn’t able to snuff out the dastardly dealings of the man she was in a relatio
nship with.
And find out, she had.
She’d confirmed the liaison by doing a little surveillance on her own. Afterward, she felt certain there was only one logical and beneficial course of action to take. She needed to kill her husband and the tramp he’d been sleeping with, even though the tramp in question just so happened to be her own cousin.
Vicious? Maybe.
Possible? Yes.
It was the kind of job Adam relished—double the victims, double the pay, half the recon work. He had a strict policy of not dating clients, but this time, it was being put to the test. In a prior meeting with Mrs. VanHorn to discuss the details of the forthcoming double murder, he’d seen her wicked cutthroat side, and he found her hard to resist. He’d also seen something else: her very fine, very toned assets.
Parking a few blocks away at the back of a grocery store parking lot with security cameras that only recorded the first thirty feet past the store’s entry, he stepped out in a black wig, aviator sunglasses, and a ball cap. He hiked the distance to the VanHorn house, slipping through a side window Mrs. VanHorn had left open for him. He removed his shoes and followed the raucous voices across the hall to the master bedroom. He found Mr. VanHorn and the neighbor on the bed in full thrust, so swept up in the throes of passion, they hadn’t noticed him come in. Adam could have popped them both right then and there, called the cleaner, and been done with it. But he’d always preferred a bit of conversation first, a healthy amount of build-up, leading to the main event.
“Hello,” Adam said.
Mr. VanHorn’s eyes widened. The neighbor tried to scream. Adam silenced her before she let a single squeak out, and she slinked over on the bed like a limp noodle. There’d be no talking to her today. What a shame.
A horrified Mr. VanHorn seemed eager to speak, but the panic attack he was experiencing wasn’t allowing for conversation just yet.
“Take a breath, Mr. VanHorn,” Adam said. “I don’t need you having a heart attack on me right now.”
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