“Sir, our wines are sold by the bottle.”
“Then, by all means, please present him with the bottle.”
The waiter gave a well-practiced bow. “And may I ask who is sending the bottle, sir?”
She moved closer to the waiter. “Just tell him it is from his secret admirer.”
Admirer or adversary, what was the difference? Right now, all that mattered was taking him down.
The waiter nodded and excused himself from their room.
“You do realize that is likely a hundred-thousand-dollar bottle of wine you just ordered,” she said.
“If it gets him out of that room and away from the other members of the Swedish parliament then I will have to consider it a smart business expense.” He smiled. “That’s what tax write-offs are for—isn’t it?”
“I doubt it will be the first homicide that ended in a tax write-off.” She laughed. “I really do need to start taking notes from your playbook.” She ran her hands down the front of his suit jacket, and ever so carefully she pulled the pen from his pocket.
He didn’t notice as she wrapped it in her hand and held it out of sight.
“I’m at your mercy,” he said, with a slight tip of his head.
She didn’t question it. For as much as he was at her mercy, she found herself happily following the requests of the man. In a world full of lies and betrayal, they had found each other.
He stood up and took her by the hand. “I’ll step into the kitchen while you wait for him in the hall. He may panic when he sees you.” He paused to look her straight in the eye. “If you feel in danger in any way I want you to get the hell out of there. You run. Don’t try to face him down, and don’t do anything stupid, just get him to stay there. If he is the man we think he is, he may come in hot at you.”
Though she heard what he was saying and she wanted to heed his warnings, she wasn’t sure she would actually be able to do as he asked. “I’ll try. You just stay close.”
He looked nervous, but maybe that was how she looked, too.
She walked out of their dining area and followed Jarrod to the kitchen door, where he stepped inside. Through the window she could see the kitchen staff had stopped and were staring at Jarrod. With the placement of a bill in the head chef’s hand and what she assumed was a thank-you for the figs or possibly a quick explanation of what he was doing in their private sanctum, the staff returned to their normal business hurrying around the kitchen.
That man knew how to grease a palm.
In their high-stakes world, she would do well to learn from him. Maybe one day she would be just as smooth, but for now she had only started.
As she made her way back toward the main cellar, she tried to stay in view of the small circular window that looked out at the hall and to the dining room. Jarrod would have to be careful to remain unseen.
Their waiter made his way out of the main dining room. “He is on his way, madam. Is there anything else you might need from me for now?”
She shook her head. “Thank you.”
The waiter returned to the kitchen and disappeared through the door to where Jarrod was waiting.
She stood in the hall for what felt like an hour but was likely only a matter of seconds. Time lost all meaning as she stood there, thinking about Daniel, about the attacks, about Anya and the world she would have to go home to, and all the damage Arthur had done in her life.
Finally Arthur made his way out of the dining room. He was carrying a glass of red wine and as he looked up and saw her, she could have sworn she saw a little ripple in the liquid, as though his hands were starting to shake.
He would have been stupid not to be afraid.
“Ms. Kohl, I didn’t know you were going to be here in Stockholm. I thought you were still in the States.”
“Ah, no,” she said, the mirth dripping from her voice. “Surprise trip. I had to come in and check on the H&K assets. Always doing business...isn’t that right, Arthur?”
He moved closer to her but was careful to stay just outside her reach, almost as if he feared she might lash out at him. “When did you arrive in Sweden?” He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple jump like a bullfrog.
“We just arrived this morning.” She gripped the pen in the palm of her hand, swirling it with her fingers and making sure the nib was exposed. If the contents of the pen were cyanide, Arthur would be down and dead within a matter of seconds...probably less than the time it had taken for her brother to die from Arthur’s bullet.
“We?” he asked, looking around them.
“I came with a friend, someone who has been looking out for my best interests ever since that horrific event in the city.”
Arthur couldn’t meet her eye. “Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t get to come see you in the hospital. I had—”
“You can hold your excuses and your lies, Agent Arthur. I know exactly who you are and what you’ve done to my family and my business.” She lowered the pen in her fingers, but before she killed him, she had to get her closure. “You’ve been exposed.”
“Is that why you’ve come here? Because you think I did something to you?” He looked confused, but his gaze darted around the empty hallway. “What have I been exposed as?” he asked, sounding glib.
She couldn’t believe that he was trying to act innocent. Ignorance wasn’t a defense.
“I found out about your role in Daniel’s death.”
His mouth dropped open. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said, but now some of the glibness had disappeared from his voice.
He turned his back to the kitchen and she saw Jarrod glance out at them. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod, and at the signal he silently opened the door to the kitchen and moved in behind the man. From under his jacket, he reached behind him and pulled out a handgun. Her time with Arthur was quickly running out.
“I know you killed him. Don’t deny that you pulled the trigger. You knew your lies were catching up with you. Danny must have found out about your role in selling our family’s secrets to our enemies. I bet that when he figured it out, you had him arrested. I know about your role in the CIA...and that you’re working both governments. In fact, I bet you’re making a hell of a lot of money.” All the weight lifted from her chest, but her hatred for the man remained.
“Mindy, you have me all wrong,” he pleaded, putting his free hand up in surrender, like somehow the simple action could save him from her rage.
“I allowed you into my life. You took my secrets...my family’s secrets...and you sold them to the highest bidders. Then you murdered my brother in cold blood...and then you tried to kill me with the nerve agent. That was the real reason you suddenly left my side for an ‘urgent business trip.’ Were you going to North Korea so you could pick up your money?” She gripped the pen in her hand so hard that she could feel the metal clip on its side cutting into her palm.
“If you think that’s true, then it’s time you get a new source.” Arthur leaned around her as if checking to make sure none of the members of parliament were in sight.
“What I can’t figure out is why you are here. What business could you have with the Riksdag?”
She tried not to look as Jarrod took another step closer. He raised his gun, aiming it straight for the back of Arthur’s head as he waited for her signal.
But she wasn’t ready. No. Nor would she be. This was one killer that she had to take down herself. She had to avenge her brother’s death.
“I know you think you know everything about me. But trust me when I tell you that you have this all wrong. I’m not the man you think I am.”
“Don’t you dare ask me to trust you,” she seethed.
“You’re right, that was the wrong choice of words. But at least hear me out.”
As badly as she wanted to jab the pen into his jugular and end him, she found herself
wanting to hear. A strange gnawing in her gut told her something wasn’t quite right.
“I do work for the CIA. I did kill your brother.” He gave her a pleading look and the wine in his glass sloshed against the sides. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to kill your brother. It wasn’t my intention.”
“But it was the only way you could keep the truth of your corruption from coming to light...”
“No,” Arthur argued. “I wasn’t the one selling your family’s secrets to North Korea. It was Daniel. And you weren’t ever supposed to be here.”
“Liar.” She took a half step toward him.
“No, I have proof. He wasn’t acting alone,” Arthur said. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’m here to—”
He was interrupted by the rattle of rifles and body armor as eight men charged down the hallway and turned into view at the corner by the kitchen. Jarrod turned to them, a look of surprise on his face as he lowered his weapon.
She was shocked. How had she and Jarrod gotten this so wrong? Arthur moved around her and she stepped closer to Jarrod.
“What in the hell is going on?” she whispered, watching as Arthur’s team moved in file down the hallway, clearing the doorways as they moved toward the cellar’s main dining area.
Arthur turned to Jarrod and nodded. “I should have known that you would get yourself wrapped up in this.”
“What are you talking about, Arthur?” Jarrod snarled. “What’s going on?”
He turned to face them both. “Mindy, we discovered that your father had been selling secrets for the last five years. When he tried to remove himself from the arrangement with North Korea, they poisoned him. Much like they had planned on poisoning you.”
She felt the fight dissolve from her. “You were trying to protect me? If that’s true, why did you kill Daniel?”
“Daniel was an unfortunate loss. We hadn’t intended on killing him, but the Koreans were breathing down his neck. We think he went for the pen knowing I would be forced to act and pull the trigger.”
“You didn’t have to kill him.”
“If I hadn’t, the Koreans would have... And they probably would have killed you, too.”
“And what about the nerve agent attack? I suppose you are going to say that was the Koreans’ doing, as well?” Jarrod asked.
“The attack is actually what brought us here.” Arthur nodded toward his team. “Your father’s and brother’s roles in supplying weapons to North Korea had come to light within the Riksdag. That was one of the reasons Hans was going to do everything in his power to shut your company down—and never allow you access to Sweden. Your brother had an agreement with North Korea, and thanks to this the North Koreans stepped in. They needed you to continue your work without any hindrances. They bought several of the members of the parliament and they were the ones who helped arrange the hit. Your brother and his cronies had one hell of a business going—they were making money from every angle.” Arthur paused as he gave a stiff, ruthless laugh. “If you think about it, North Korea is part of the reason your family’s company is so profitable.”
She felt a wave of sickness overtake her as she realized her entire life had been bought and paid for with blood money.
“Now, I’m here working with the Säkerhetspolisen, or SAPO, and luring out those that the North Koreans had paid to help with the hit,” Arthur said, putting his finger to his lips as he handed her his glass of wine. “Stay back. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
Chapter Twenty
There was screwing up and then there was royally screwing things up, and this time he had definitely hit an all-time low. Jarrod holstered his gun as he pulled Mindy close to him. If there was going to be a firefight between the joint task force and the rogue members of the Swedish parliament, he needed to get Mindy out of there.
But as he nudged her to move back toward the kitchen and away from the fight, she refused to budge.
“Jarrod, is Arthur telling the truth? Were my brother and father really doing all that?” she asked, sounding broken.
He stared down the hallway at the joint task force. From what he could see, it looked as though the man at the front of the formation was definitely CIA, as was the man behind him. The next two appeared to be in a different kind of tactical gear, and their weaponry was definitely from UN. Behind them were members of the SAPO.
“From the looks of it, our investigation was only the tip of a much bigger iceberg.” He looked at Arthur. “He was right.”
“But I thought you said that the CIA sent you to investigate me? How did you not know about the rest of the operation?”
The blood drained from his face. The CIA had used him as their pawn and he had been too stupid to see their game for what it really was. And now he had to admit that he once again wasn’t the man she thought he was.
“I think they sent me to keep an eye on you. If they’d really been suspicious, you would have had CIA agents assigned to you. They must have wanted me to keep you out of danger during their raid on your family.”
“But...why?”
He sighed. “Like I told you, I’m a government contractor. STEALTH works for groups all over the world just like the CIA. And, as contractors, sometimes our job isn’t to know everything that is going on with a case. That’s why they call us in, to handle the odds and ends bits that could land them in hot water if they ever fell under investigation. As a contractor, we are held to different standards—especially when working internationally. We don’t have to play by the rules of the Geneva Conventions.”
“You make it sound like you are badasses.”
“And yet, here I stand in front of you looking like a chump.” He hung his head playfully before giving her his most melting smile.
“But what about the man in the city? The man in Anya’s music class? Was he a part of this, too?”
And the next hatchet fell. Crap. He had almost forgotten about the man and the life that was waiting for him when he got back home. “Mindy, you aren’t the only one with enemies. I think that man... Actually, I know that man was a member of a group called the Gray Wolves—a group that is actively targeting my family.”
“What?” She leaned back against the wall behind them.
From down the hall, Arthur called out to his men and they rushed the dining room, guns aimed at the men inside. There were the sounds of bodies being dropped down to the floor and handcuffs being clicked.
Thankfully, and almost surprisingly, there wasn’t the sound of a single round being fired.
Maybe the CIA didn’t want to pick up the tab for a rack of hundred-thousand-dollar bottles of wine.
Arthur’s mission appeared to be a complete success. Especially compared to STEALTH’s handling of the mess.
Though perhaps he was looking at their situation from the wrong angle. Instead of thinking of it as being played by the CIA, he had gotten a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with a woman who might be his soul mate.
“Who are the Gray Wolves?” she asked.
“When we were in Turkey on a mission for the CIA, we had a run-in with the Gray Wolves, a Turkish crime syndicate. My sister Trish was killed,” he said, emotion clogging his throat. “Well, we managed to take out a lot of their men...and cost the leader and his organization millions of dollars. As a result, they put out a hit on us.”
She nodded. “So the man in my apartment and the one from the music class—Gray Wolves? How can you be sure Zoey and Anya are safe?”
“The Gray Wolves don’t know about the Montana ranch. We’re very careful to keep it that way.” He gave her a feeble and apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry, Mindy. I’m sorry that I have made your life such a disaster.”
“You did do that.” She took a long drink from the wineglass Arthur had handed her. She laughed as she caught Jarrod gawking at her. “Did you seriously think that I would let th
is good a wine go to waste? You really don’t know me.”
He laughed, thankful that she seemed to finally find some peace with the situation. If nothing else, perhaps they could be friends when they got back to the States.
She leaned in closer to him and he could smell the rich hues of strawberry and oak from the wine on her breath. “Another thing you may not know about me... I have a thing for men who are real.”
“You mean you like chumps?” he asked, looking deep into her green eyes.
“Not chumps,” she said with a little giggle. “But I’ve dated enough men who think they are the world’s greatest catch...men with more money than they even know what to do with...men who have no real drive in life. I love a man who can take his lumps and admit when he is wrong.”
“You mean you could love a man who would take you on a worldwide adventure, only to learn that he had screwed up from the very beginning?”
She leaned even closer to him, her lips on the cusp of his ear. “But wasn’t it one hell of an adventure?”
He couldn’t deny that fact. Looking back at his career, he’d never missed the mark on a case so badly before. However, this was probably the best case he had ever worked on.
She drew his earlobe into her mouth, giving it a light nibble as she kissed him. “And as far as loving you,” she said, letting go of his earlobe. “If you give me half a chance, I could love you until the end of time.”
A wide smile took over his face and he wrapped his arms around her, careful not to spill her glass of wine. “Why, Ms. Kohl, I think you’re declaring your love for me.”
“I know you warned against me calling you sir, and now I see why. If you call me miss one more time I’m going to have to take you upstairs and show you exactly how unladylike I can be.”
“Would you rather I call you Mrs.?”
Mindy smiled as she drew back slightly and looked up at him. “Will you marry me?”
“I don’t have a ring, and unlike The Bachelor I can’t give you the final rose. Well, I would, if I had one...” He stammered. Dammit, this was going all wrong. “What I mean is, yeah, I’d love to marry the hell out of you.”
In His Sights (Stealth Series Book 2) Page 16