by Maddie Wade
Mari pushed up, and he let her sit but kept her close. “That’s just it, you’re right. From a mission point of view, it makes sense to share my past, but I just don’t know if I can.”
“Then don’t. Why don’t we go and talk to Hanley first thing and see if he can tell us more? The event is in two days, so we have a little time.”
Mari looked unsure, and he hated that. He waited, giving her time to make her own mind up. “Okay, but I think I need to do some investigating of my own from this end and make sure Ben is still locked away where he should be. He’s the only person in SA that hates me as far as I know.”
“This may not even be linked to you. It may be a pure coincidence.”
Mari tipped her head, smiling sadly. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.” Unfortunately, she was right, but he didn’t confirm that.
Mari surprised him by kissing him softly, her lips molding to his. He returned the kiss, tasting her, feeling the passion and feeling inside her.
She pulled away and cupped his cheek. “Thank you.”
Ash frowned. “What for?”
“I feel free for the first time in fifteen years. Free to mourn or talk about Leonie, and you gave me that by showing me I matter.”
“You do matter, Marisol. You matter to me more than you know.” He stopped himself from saying the words, wanting more time with her before he dropped the L-bomb. She gazed in his eyes as if she too was battling with what to say to express her feelings.
“I need to get to work.” Her voice was languid.
“Best get on that then,” he replied with a grin when she didn’t move.
Eventually, he rolled away knowing if she stayed so close to him for much longer, he would have her naked. Standing, he held out his hand. “Time to work; we can play later.” Her eyes grew dark with desire, and he almost changed his mind, but with so little time and so much at stake, he knew they couldn’t get side tracked.
With the mood broken, Mari retrieved her laptop and a burner phone. She dialed a number while he watched, wondering who she was calling. “Will, it’s Mustique.”
Ash grinned as he realized she was calling a friend for help. Will Granger was the tech nerd at Fortis Security, although nerd was probably the wrong description. The man was a genius and had invented more tech than Ash could possibly imagine. Fuck, his bank account probably had as many zeroes as his phone number did. The fact he looked like some tatted up, pierced model didn’t help with the nerd visual either. In real life, Will was a regular guy with an exceptional mind who was totally in love with his cop girlfriend.
“I know it’s late, but I really need a favor.” Ash openly listened, and Mari beckoned him to sit by her, and he happily obliged.
She smiled at something Will must have said. “Thanks. The name is Ben Rensburg. He was last known to be an inmate at Durban Correctional Facility in SA. I need to know if he’s still there, and if not, where he is.”
Ash waited as he heard the faint sound of the man replying.
“Yes, I know, and thanks; I owe you.” She hung up and grinned. “Will should have something for us within the hour.”
“That quick?” A thought occurred to him. “Will he find out about you if he starts digging?”
Mari bit her lip. “Possibly, but it’s a risk I have to take. Will can get the information I need faster than I can, and if he finds something, I trust him not to say anything. Fuck, he probably has information on everyone he knows.”
“I thought you wanted this kept a secret?”
“I do, and believe me when I say I won’t talk about this with anyone if I’m given a choice, but this is a risk I have to take.”
“You’re very brave.”
“No, I am definitely not brave, but I am pragmatic.”
Ash didn’t argue; it was pointless at this stage, and they had work to do. “Do you want to look into Hanley’s financials again before we drop by for a visit tomorrow?”
“Yeah, let’s do that, and try to find a link between him and Hashemi. There must be a reason Hashemi chose Hanley.”
The evening had faded into night when the burner phone rang again. They’d been digging into the financials and the connection between the two men and had come up with a few leads.
“Will?” After a few seconds, Mustique’s eyes flashed to Ash’s, with a look of shock and fear in them, and he knew. “When was he released?” Her face said it all, and it changed the dynamic of this case again. “Okay, call me as soon as you find anything, please.”
She hung up and looked at him. “Ben was released last year. He withdrew all the family money he’d inherited and hasn’t been seen since. Will is going to keep looking for him.”
“So is it reasonable to add Ben to the list of suspects now?”
“I guess, although I don’t see what he would want with Leonie. He was the one who gave her away in the first place. Why would he suddenly want her back?”
“I guess we need to find out and see what Hanley says.”
“Yeah, time to pay the senator a visit.”
Ash glanced at his watch. “Not now; it’s two in the morning. Best we wait until he’s in his office.”
“I agree, but we should continue looking through these emails then.”
Ash stood and took her hand. “No, we should get some sleep and start again first thing in the morning. We’re no good to anyone if we’re so tired we make mistakes.”
Mari tipped her sexy mouth up in a grin that made his dick twitch. “Oh, please, SEALs go days without sleep and still make perfect judgment calls. You’re just trying to get me naked.”
“Fine, you got me. Now let’s go.” He pulled her in front of him and gave her a little nudge toward the bedroom.
“Animal.” She laughed, and he relished the sound from her.
“And you love it.”
“Maybe,” she hedged as she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them over her perfect ass.
She loved it all right, and she would love what he planned to do to her before they slept even more. Whether she would love it as much as he would remained to be seen.
Thank God the neighbor was deaf was all he could think as he drifted off to sleep a few hours later, with a very satisfied woman in his arms.
13
Robert Hanley’s office looked exactly like the man himself, pretentious and dripping in old money. Mustique had worn black, wide-leg pants and a white vest with a large, white suit jacket over the top. The metal detectors on the door prevented either her or Asher from taking guns inside, but the hidden pockets inside the jacket had her hard plastic Shuriken and her other toys.
Ash’s eyes had hit his hairline, earlier, when he’d seen the lipstick that was a knife with a glass blade. Her stiletto heel had a plastic spike inside it. The compact that carried throwing stars was her favorite though.
“What in God’s name is that for?” Mustique had opened her mouth to answer, but he’d held up a hand. “Forget it, I don’t want to know. I think being with you may give me a heart attack.”
Mustique had laughed, a light feeling filling her as he talked of them being together. He seemed to accept the dark parts of her as if they had no bearing on how he felt about her. Part of her knew it was a dream—the two of them making anything work with their jobs was almost impossible, but that he wanted to meant a lot to her.
Now, as she watched the receptionist eye fuck Ash, she wondered if maybe the sharp, plastic throwing star in her bag might look good in the bitch’s throat.
“How may I help you, sir?”
Mustique rolled her eyes. “Oh, bitch, please. This one is not for you. So just tell the senator he has a visitor.”
The woman blushed ten shades of beetroot. Mustique heard Ash quietly chuckle beside her, and she resisted the urge to glare at him.
The receptionist recovered and straightened her spine. “I’m afraid Senator Hanley is very busy and doesn’t have time available for unscheduled visitors.”
So Campaign B
arbie had some backbone. Mustique almost admired her. If it wasn’t for her flirting with Ash, Mustique might even like her.
“Well, why don’t you tell the good senator that Mr. and Mrs. Jones would like to see him regarding Ramin Hashemi. Believe me when I say he will see us.”
Barbie must have seen the truth in her eyes because she stood, shot her a furious look, and walked toward a closed door. She knocked before entering, shutting the door behind her again
“Mr. and Mrs. Jones?” Ash’s mouth twitched with humor.
“Oh, shut up. Barbie was making googly eyes at you, and it pissed me off.”
“I do find jealousy attractive on you.” He was messing with her now, and she liked the natural back and forth banter between them.
She snorted. “Yeah, well, you’ll be disappointed then because I am not jealous.”
“You’re nearly green with it,” he murmured as the door to the inner sanctum opened, and Robert Hanley glared at them from the doorway.
“Told you he wouldn’t run,” Mustique whispered, referring to an earlier conversation.
“I guess you won that bet.” Ash stepped forward toward Hanley. “Senator, so glad you could find time to see us.”
Shooting Barbie a smug look, Mustique sashayed past her, ignoring the bitch comment aimed her way under the woman’s breath. Barbie had earned that one.
Mustique surveyed her surroundings as she entered the office behind Ash. The windows faced the road and the only other exit was the one they’d just come in through. Seeing a door to their left, she strode past the two men and opened it to discover a private bath. Noting it was unoccupied, she closed the door again and faced the senator who looked furious enough to stroke out at any minute.
“What do you want?”
Ash sat in the chair near the desk. He appeared relaxed, but Mustique could see his body was coiled for action, ready to move at a second’s warning.
Mustique ran her hand over the smooth, hard, wood of the massive desk that must be compensation for the man’s ‘short comings.’ “Why don’t you sit down, Senator.” Her voice brooked no argument, but the politician wasn’t used to being ordered around, and especially not by a woman.
“I will not be told what to do in my own office.”
Mustique moved so quickly, he never saw her coming. She had her hands around his neck in a second, forcing him to step back as his eyes bulged. He grabbed her wrists in an unsuccessful attempt to throw her off him. Mustique pushed him down in his chair and released him before leaning down and getting into his face. “I said, sit down.”
When the man stayed where she’d put him, Mustique straightened and chanced a glance at Ash for his reaction to her outburst. She found him lounging in the same spot, no emotion showing on his face as he silently watched the scene unfold. They’d agreed she would take the lead, and he was letting her do just that.
“Now, tell me about Ramin Hashemi?”
Mustique perched her butt on the edge of the desk and assessed the senator. His gray hair was perfectly combed, his suit probably cost more than the average family car, and he was as poisonous as a rattlesnake. “I don’t know any Ramin Hashemi.”
Mustique lifted an eyebrow at Ash then let her concentration go back to the senator and shook her head. “Try again. We have proof he’s providing donations to your campaign, so quit with the bullshit. How did you meet?”
The man seemed to shrink in front of her eyes as he realized he was beaten. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. “It’s almost a relief, you know, to be found out.” He looked to them for a reaction and got none. “We met at a fundraiser my wife had organized in Morocco two years ago. Looking back, I think it was planned, but at the time it seemed like luck. He offered to contribute to my campaign in return for me helping him get some simple bills through Congress. It appeared harmless, but then he wanted more and more.”
“Tell me about the kidnapping plot,” Mustique demanded, not wanting to listen to this idiot feel sorry for himself and defend his actions.
His brow furrowed in confusion. “I don’t know anything about a kidnapping.”
“Bullshit, I heard you at the party in Austin, talking to someone about the Craven girl.”
“Senator Craven? I don’t understand.”
Mustique was getting irritated now, bored with his act. She banged her hand on the desk, and he jumped when he spotted the knife in her hand. “At the party, you were talking to someone in the library about a plot to kidnap Senator Craven’s daughter and deliver her to Hashemi. Now tell me.” Her voice was low, and she saw his hands shake in reaction.
“I wouldn’t lie to her, Senator. I’m here for your protection, not hers,” Ash added, and she wanted to smile, even felt her lips pull, but fought it.
“I was never going to go through with it.” Senator Hanley sounded suddenly exhausted. “He said if I didn’t, they’d expose me. I’m a lot of things, Mrs. Jones, most of them not good, but I would never kidnap a child.”
“He who?”
The man shrugged. “I don’t know his name. He had a South African accent, tall, thin, wore an expensive suit, dark skin, a scar across his right cheek.”
Mustique didn’t recognize the description, but that didn’t mean anything, but the possibility that Ben was likely involved in this increased. Had he followed her? Had she led him to Leonie? Now was not the time to reflect on those thoughts, so she pushed them back in her mind.
“Why the sudden attack of conscience? You stand to lose everything, even your freedom.” Mustique was unconvinced by his sudden about-face and willingness to open up to them.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not public yet, but I have three months left to live. Cancer—pancreatic.” Again he waited for a reaction, and although she found it sad for his family, she didn’t doubt this man had done some heinous things in his life and couldn’t find it in her to feel sorry for him. “So, you see, it doesn’t matter what they do to me now. I would rather go to the grave as a failed politician than have my grandchildren grow up thinking I’d harm innocent children.”
Mustique glanced at Ash, and he gave a barely perceptible nod. He believed him, and she was inclined to do the same.
“Did you tell Hashemi you wouldn’t do it?”
Hanley dropped his head as if he couldn’t face her. “No, he was going to give me details at the event regarding the drop.”
“So he still believes it’s going ahead?”
“Yes.”
Ash leaned forward to face the senator. “Do you know what he wants with her?”
“No, he didn’t say. Hashemi is not the kind of man you question. He’s…” He stopped and gazed at the wall , taking a deep, shuddering breath, and Mustique could see he was in some pain. “He’s not a good man. I made a terrible mistake, and now my years as a servant for this great country will be tarnished.”
“Not necessarily. I have a way you can help us, and, providing you’re telling the truth regarding your diagnosis, we might be able to come to an arrangement.”
Ash looked at her suddenly, a question in his eyes. They hadn’t discussed this, and she was working on the fly, as she so often did. Not used to having a partner, she’d made the decision on her own. Ash winked and she was relieved he trusted her.
“What do you mean?” Senator Hanley captured her attention again.
“You go to the event and get the drop location. Act as if everything is going as planned.”
He hesitated. “I don’t know; it could go wrong. I have a family. What assurance do I have that they’ll be safe? That I’ll be safe?”
Mustique rolled her lips between her teeth. This man wasn’t worried about his family. He was a greedy man, worried for himself and grasping at straws even though his time was numbered. “Absolutely none, Senator. That’s the price you pay for swimming with sharks. But if you choose not to, I’ll have you arrested, and your final days will be spent in a maximum-security prison with the sickest murderers on the planet. A
nd you’ll still have no guarantee your family will be safe from retribution. At least, my way, you have a chance we’ll take him down and he’ll never be a threat to your family again.”
“I have no idea who you even are, young woman.”
Mustique stood and leaned closer to the man who, despite his earlier declaration, would’ve kidnapped a child, if not for the fact he was dying anyway. “And you never will, but rest assured I know who you are.” She smiled then and crossed to stand behind Ash, who was still sitting. “Do we have a deal?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“No, I guess not.” Mustique smirked without humor.
“We’ll be in touch.” She and Ash moved for the door like a well-oiled machine and hand on the handle, she stopped and turned. “And, Senator, if you betray me, I’ll make sure the last memories you have are of pain you could never imagine.” He must have seen the truth in her eyes because he blanched and swayed as if he might pass out.
She and Ash walked past Campaign Barbie and she smiled.
Ash waited until they were in the car before he turned to Mari. “Do you think he’ll go for it?”
“I hope so. It’s the best chance we have at this point.”
“We need to bring Jake and Nick up to date.”
“Yeah, I agree. Can we see if they’ll meet us later?”
“Hang on, let me call them.” As he pulled out his phone, Mustique maneuvered the car away from the curb and headed toward the safe house. “Nick, it’s me. I have some information, can we meet?” She listened with half an ear as he spoke. “Cool catch ya later.”
Ash hung up, twisting to her. “He and Jake are going to come to the safe house; they have more information on Moody and Jim Craven.”
“I wonder what that could be?” She didn’t get the chance to ask more though because her phone rang. She activated the vehicle’s Blue Tooth. “Will, you’re on speaker. I have Ash Thompson in the car with me.”
“Hey, Ash, long time no see.”
“Hey, Will, how’s it hanging?”
“Oh ya know, a little to the left and just below my knees.”