Iron Cross (COBRA Securities Book 20)

by Velvet Vaughn

  He stopped and turned to her. “Georgiana’s dead.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What?”

  Kayla scrambled out of bed naked, and Finn had to concentrate on the situation. All he had to do was picture Georgiana lying in a casket. Another life lost.

  “What happened?” she asked as she hastily donned her clothes. “How did she die?”

  “I don’t know. Shawn found her body. He’s a wreck.”

  His mind churned with different scenarios. Many people wanted her gone, from Ricky for stealing his team to Trevor for cutting his signing bonus. Or was she the victim of the killer stalking him?

  They found Mark and Kaiya in the gym. Finn tried to feel guilty. He should’ve been down there with them instead of engaging in mattress aerobics with Kayla, yet he didn’t regret it. Every minute spent with her felt like a gift.

  Traffic was non-existent as they made their way to Georgiana’s mansion fifteen miles away. The gates stood open, and emergency vehicles crowded the driveway with their lights swirling ominously.

  Finn parked out of the way, and they navigated the cobblestone path. No one stopped them until they approached the door. A uniformed officer held out his arm.

  “I’m sorry, folks. Authorized personnel only…hey! You’re Finn Bates. Wow. You’re my favorite player.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’m going to have to ask you to wait outside.”

  “Finn.”

  He glanced over the cop’s shoulder to see Shawn striding towards them. They moved away from the doorway. His friend looked shaken. “What happened?”

  “I was bringing her some papers she asked for last night. When I arrived, the gate was open, so I drove to the house, assuming she left it open for me. I went to knock on the door, but it swung open. I called her name, but there was no answer. I was afraid something was wrong, so I went looking for her. I found her in her bedroom.”

  “Could you tell how she died?” Kayla asked.

  “I don’t know. There wasn’t any blood. Her eyes were open and red. I felt for a pulse, but she was cold.”

  “Finn. Shawn.”

  He turned to see Clint jogging their way.

  “I called him, too,” Shawn said. “I was freaking out.”

  “I can’t believe Georgiana’s dead.” Clint shook his head. “We were just with her last night.”

  Finn couldn’t believe it, either. He thought she could be the killer, but she was a victim instead. Although, calling a woman who murdered four husbands a victim seemed ludicrous.

  Clint slapped his shoulder. “Sorry, man, I know the contract was important to you.”

  “It’s a done deal.”

  Clint’s eyes widened as he glanced at Shawn. “I thought you said he was signing tomorrow morning.”

  “That was the original plan,” Shawn confirmed, “but she wanted to get it done, so we signed earlier in the week. She wanted to keep it quiet until the big announcement.”

  “Oh, wow, that’s awesome.” Clint threw an arm around Finn’s shoulders and hugged him. “Congrats. You deserve it.”

  “Thanks. It was a generous offer.” More than generous. Practically obscene. It would keep him in Pittsburgh for the next five years. At one time, that had been his objective, but his priorities had shifted over the past week. Home was with Kayla, whether it be his house on the hill or hers overlooking a lake. He would never ask her to leave her job. She loved it and was good at it. He was tied down for five years. He loved her and wanted to make it work. It wouldn’t be easy to maintain a long-distance relationship, but he was willing to try to be with her. They didn’t live that far apart. And there was always the off-season.

  Even though the contract was signed before Georgiana died, he wondered if the new owner would honor the terms or fight it. He also wondered if that new owner would be Ricky Westfield, or if Georgiana left it to someone else in her will. He’d never heard her mention family, but she must have relatives somewhere. Did they know about her black widow past?

  The thought that she might’ve willed the team to an unknown person was worrisome. She might have known squat about hockey, but she’d been willing to learn. She kept Broderick’s front office personnel who knew how to run the team. Someone new might come in with sweeping changes. If that happened, he might have to look into nullifying the contract himself.

  Shawn looked like he would pass out, so Finn guided him to an iron bench next to a birdbath. “Have you given the police a statement yet?”

  “No. I told the first responders what I found. They instructed me not to leave, saying that someone would want to talk to me, but they haven’t yet. All I want to do is go home.”

  “I’ll be here with you until they release you,” Finn promised.

  “Me, too,” Clint agreed, dropping beside Shawn. “Three against the world.”

  “Three against the world,” Shawn repeated, and Finn echoed. It was a phrase they used throughout high school to show their solidarity when things got tough. Together, the three of them could take on anything.

  #

  Somehow, Georgiana went from being the prime suspect to the latest victim. Kayla had been convinced she was the killer, eliminating Finn’s former girlfriends to remove any competition. And she still might’ve been the unsub. However, she’d been downright hospitable to Kayla after their first couple of tense meetings. Maybe it’d been a ruse to gain Kayla’s trust. She might’ve used the same tactics with Nina and Megan to get close enough to kill. But it was a moot point since she was now dead.

  Just because she was gone didn’t mean she didn’t kill the others. With her shady background, a family member of one of her deceased husbands might’ve caught up with her, including Ricky. Or someone else from her past. They knew so little about her.

  She glanced over to where Shawn and Clint were sitting on a bench with Finn standing at their side. Shawn looked shell-shocked. Finding a dead body was never easy, especially when you knew the person. He’d probably have nightmares for weeks.

  An unmarked car parked in front of the coroner’s van and Anja stepped out. She spotted Kayla and headed over.

  “I was going to call you this morning.” Kayla filled her in on Tyler’s discovery about Georgiana's past.

  “Wow, a real black widow.”

  “It looks that way.” Kayla eyed the exterior of the mansion. “With all the security, the cameras must’ve captured the perp.”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Glancing at Finn to make sure he was okay, Kayla followed Anja into the house. With all the authorities around, it would be suicidal for anyone to attempt anything. Still, she instructed Mark to keep an eye on him. Kaiya was off trying to charm information from one of the cops.

  Anja stopped a man wearing a rumpled suit and introduced him as a fellow detective. “Did the cameras catch the killer?”

  He shook his head and adjusted his glasses. “Security was turned off, and she’d given her staff the day off, too.”

  Kayla sighed. “It was the perfect scenario for a killer.”

  Chapter Twenty

  A wave of sadness swept over Mona Little as she placed a file on Tammy Ladd’s desk. Her boss, mentor and best friend had been missing four days now, and there’d been no sign of her.

  Mona had been the one to call the police. Tammy was never late for work. Never. She lived and breathed her job, believing deeply in the charitable causes funded by athlete and philanthropist Finn Bates. Part of Tammy’s salary package was the use of the penthouse suite in the luxury apartments above the office. Finn had been generous in offering the space to Tammy. It could easily rent for thousands a month.

  When Tammy didn’t show up for work, Mona took the elevator to her suite and used the key Tammy had given her. She knew as soon as she stepped inside that Tammy wasn’t there. It was too quiet. Nothing looked out of place, so Mona assumed Tammy must be running errands or something. She tried calling, but her phone instantly clicked to voice mail. She retur
ned to the office but couldn’t concentrate on work. Along with everyone else in the city, she’d been glued to the news reports about the abducted women. Their connection had been to Finn Bates. He’d dated both Nina and Megan. Now they were dead. Though he and Tammy never went out, they were connected through the foundation. That was enough of a reason for Mona to notify the police. They took her call seriously and immediately sent over two police cars and a detective. She’d been questioned numerous times, and they’d scoured Tammy’s office for any clues to her whereabouts but so far, nothing.

  The mood around the office had been somber. As second in charge, Mona needed to figure out a way to improve morale, but she was afraid the only way to accomplish that was for Tammy to walk in the door. And she would come back. Mona had to believe that.

  Several projects required attention, so Mona needed to pick up the slack until Tammy returned. That’s why she was in the office on a Sunday evening. Plus, it was easier to work without the rest of the staff moping around. They added to her sadness.

  A hand suddenly covered her mouth, and an arm clamped around her neck, cutting off her airway.

  “Do not make a sound,” a low voice growled.

  Mona clawed at the arm as black spots danced before her eyes. She couldn’t even gasp when something covered her face, obscuring what little vision she had left. Just when she thought she would pass out, the pressure released, allowing her to gulp in blessed air. Her arms were jerked painfully behind her, but right now, all she cared about was refilling her lungs.

  The hands cruelly shoved her down. She cried out when she landed harshly in a chair. Realization dawned, and she lost the breath she’d fought so hard to regain. This was the person who took Tammy and probably killed Nina and Megan. She was in grave danger.

  “Do as I say, and I won’t harm you.” The altered voice sounded strange. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. “You’re going to call Finn Bates and repeat exactly what I tell you. If you deviate from the script in any way or try to warn him, I will kill you, and I guarantee it will be excruciatingly painful.”

  She gasped when something cold pressed beneath her chin. A gun. “Are you going to be a good girl?”

  Mona nodded rapidly, tears falling down her cheeks. She would do anything to stay alive.

  #

  It’d been a long day, and Finn was working on very little sleep. He wasn’t complaining. Nights spent with Kayla were worth the lack of rest. But dealing with Georgiana’s murder had utterly drained him.

  He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that she was dead. There’d been so many people in her home last night. She’d been in her element as hostess, fluttering from one group to another, all smiles and full of energy. It was hard to reconcile that image with one of a cold, calculating woman who possibly killed her four elderly husbands, including Broderick.

  Shawn was a wreck. Finn had never seen his friend so disconcerted. He couldn’t imagine what he was going through after finding Georgiana dead. He’d been reluctant to leave him, but Clint promised to take him home and stay with him until Shawn felt better.

  The media response had been immediate and overwhelming. Kip Pennington was driving him crazy with interview requests. He issued a statement to the press through Kip and then told the man to leave him alone. He wished he could do the same to the news crews parked outside his gates.

  As soon as they returned home, Kayla insisted that they decompress on the deck. She knew what he needed, and he wished he could gather her in his arms and hold her, but that wasn’t happening with Mark and Kaiya sitting next to them.

  Kaiya offered to cook dinner, and Kayla volunteered to help. They’d put together a delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs with salads and crusty French bread. It was as good as any meal in a restaurant, maybe better. He and Mark had cleaned up, and then they returned to the deck to watch the sunset and the city come to life in lights.

  His phone rang. He checked the screen, recognizing Mona Little’s name as one of the staff members of his foundation. Had Tammy been found? He punched the talk button. “Hello?”

  “Finn? This is Mona Little, T-Tammy Ladd’s assistant.”

  “Hi, Mona. What’s up?”

  “C-can you come to the office as soon as possible? There’s something you need to see. It’s about T-Tammy. I d-don’t want to call the police. If you think we should after you get here, then w-we can. I might be overreacting, but I-I’d like your opinion first.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Finn disconnected, his brows narrowed in concern.

  Kayla noticed his unease. “What’s wrong?”

  “That was Tammy Ladd’s assistant. She wants me to come to the office so she can show me something. She sounded scared.”

  “Should I call Detective Johansen and have her meet us there?”

  “Mona didn’t want to call them until she showed me whatever it is she wants me to see. She said we could call them if I thought it necessary.”

  “Where are your foundation offices?” Mark asked.

  “In a suburb east of downtown. I own the building. The offices take up the whole bottom level. The rest are apartments.”

  “We’ll take my SUV,” Kaiya decided. “You and Kayla can hide in the back. That way, the annoying media types camping at the gate won’t know you’re leaving.”

  “Good thinking.”

  It took some work to contort his frame so he couldn’t be seen through the windshield. Kayla easily settled into the floorboard. Their heads were close, and it was all he could do to keep from breaching the small distance and kissing her.

  Kaiya slowed as the gates opened. “The vultures are swarming,” she muttered before rolling down her window. “Sorry to disappoint, everyone. We’re nobodies. Thanks for moving.” She maneuvered around the cameras and television trucks and drove away without anyone following them. “Coast is clear.”

  Finn pushed upright and then helped Kayla into the seat next to him. After they buckled up, he gave Kaiya directions. Sunday evening traffic was sparse, so the trip passed quickly. Finn directed her to the parking lot and led the trio to the front door off the quiet street. Large windows allowed a look inside, but the space was dark. Besides streetlamps, the only illumination came from the security light above the emergency exit sign in the back.

  Finn knocked on the door, but there was no movement inside. That was strange. Why would Mona call him to come if she wasn’t there? He inserted his key and turned the lock. Kayla shot out an arm to stop him from entering and withdrew her gun. Kaiya and Mark followed suit.

  “I go first.”

  It went against every instinct in his body to allow her to go in when there might be trouble. He wanted to take care of her, even if she was the most competent woman he’d ever met.

  #

  Kayla recognized the stench immediately. Someone had lost their life inside. A tingling at the back of her neck told her they could be walking into a trap. Mona’s call could’ve been to lure Finn inside. Before she went any further, she called Detective Johansen. Anja instructed her to wait to enter until police arrived, but Kayla had expert backup in Mark and Kaiya. If Mona was in trouble, they needed to assist her as quickly as possible.

  The building was dark, so she tugged out her flashlight and held it beside her gun as she made her way around a reception desk and seating area to the large open space with desks and office equipment. There was a glass-enclosed office in the back, along with several doors that probably held office supplies, restrooms and a break room if she had to guess. “You two, clear the back rooms.” Following her instructions, Mark and Kaiya headed in that direction.

  The smell was more pungent the further she ventured. Her beam lit on the body on the floor. Before she could hold Finn back, he stepped beside her.

  “Damn. That’s Mona,” he confirmed.

  Kayla crouched down and checked for a pulse. “She’s still warm, so it happened recently.” There wasn’t any blood, so Mo
na had most likely been strangled, like Nina, Megan and Sally Sue. She lifted her eyelids. Yep. Petechial hemorrhaging. A telltale sign of strangulation.

  “Clear,” Mark called out.

  “Clear,” Kaiya echoed. “Kayla, look at this.”

  She pushed upright and went to where Kaiya was shining her flashlight on a box with Finn’s name scribbled on top. This must’ve been what Mona wanted him to see. She tugged a pair of latex gloves from her pocket and slid them on. Carefully prying off the top, she set it aside to peel open the tissue paper. As she feared, there were crosses inside.

  “There are four,” Kaiya noticed.

  “Yeah,” Kayla agreed. “That means—”

  “Get down!”

  Before she could process the words, something plowed into her like a freight train, slamming her to the carpet. It took a minute for her to realize Finn had tackled both her and Kaiya to the ground as gunshots rang out, followed by the sound of glass shattering before tires squealed.

  Finn rolled off them. “Sorry, ladies. Are you okay?”

  Her breath was returning. “Yeah, I’m okay. Kaiya?”

  “I’m good. That was close. Thanks, Finn.”

  He helped them to their feet. “I caught the car driving slowly by out of the corner of my eye. Then I saw the driver’s side window lower and the gun.”

  Kayla found her weapon from where it’d fallen and picked it up. “Mark, you okay?”

  No answer.

  “Mark?” Kayla rushed forward and stopped abruptly. “No.” She fell to her knees beside the fallen agent. She checked for a pulse, even knowing there wouldn’t be one, thanks to the hole above his right eye.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kayla wasn’t a crier. Never had been. But she felt like weeping now as emergency personnel filled the offices of Finn’s foundation. Red and blue lights swirled outside, and people came and went, but it felt surreal, as if she watched the scene unfold in front of her as she hovered outside her body. Mark had been loaded in a black body bag. It almost did her in when he disappeared beneath the zipper. Kaiya openly sobbed. Finn looked inconsolable and gutting with grief. She couldn’t even comfort either one because all she felt was numb deep down in her bones.