Harden paced around the hotel suite, smartphone to his ear. “Yeah, Paulie, tomorrow at three… I figure it’ll take a few minutes to talk him up, get close enough to hit him with the needle… Yeah, so have your boys ready, locked and loaded… Yeah, we tested the phone, but we’ll do a dry run with your boys before we go in.”
Kerri watched from the chair, Amsterdam spread out on the other side of the glass. A growing nausea curled in her belly. We shouldn’t do this; I shouldn’t be doing this. Maybe it would be better, safer for everyone, if I sent Harden in alone. What if I only screw it up, or slow him down, or become a liability, or a hostage? They always grab the girl, don’t they?
But Kerri had to shake her head, her skeptical self once more scolding her. This isn’t one of those stupid movies! If death comes, it’ll be two quick shots in the back of the head.
Kerri felt even sicker. She looked up at Harden, tall and powerful, pacing like a tiger in a cage. I’ll never be able to talk him out of this. And if he’s doing it, I’m doing it. If he dies, I’m dying right alongside him.
“Right…thanks…we’ll need it… Yeah, we’ll all need it.”
Harden swiped the screen and sat down on the couch just a few feet from Kerri’s chair, the corner of the coffee table between them. “So we’ll set messenger to dictate, with Paulie’s boys on the other end. Everything we say will be transcribed and they’ll know just when to come in.”
“What about guns; shouldn’t we have guns?”
“If they search us and find a gun, we’re finished. As it is, all they’d find is the EpiPen, and they’ll have no way of knowing what’s really in it.”
“Is that stuff really gonna work?”
“Paulie says his boys have been using it a while now—works like a charm. Stands to reason: a hyper-shot of burundanga to put him out and scopolamine to quicken the action and deaden his responses.”
“I suppose. They’re not exactly household words.”
“Burudanga is the basis of the date-rape drug, and scapolamine, or devil’s breath, is an active ingredient. In this ratio, it would put King Kong flat on his ass. Quick jab of the EpiPen and our target becomes a sack of potatoes. Paulie’s boys come in, clear out Elias’s men, and out we go.”
“What about the guests? There’ll be innocent people everywhere!”
“Paulie’s men know that. I can’t promise there won’t be any collateral damage though, Kerri. Not even to either of us. You know that, don’t you?” Her heart skipped a beat, and all she could do was nod. “It’s okay,” she said, “we’ll be fine.”
Harden smiled and nodded, but he couldn’t manage to give his verbal assent.
“Hey, what day is it?”
Harden said, “Thursday, the twentieth.”
Kerri cracked an ironic smile. “It’s funny…not really, I guess, but…today’s the day Mark died, in the early morning hours.”
Harden put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You miss him?”
“What? No, I mean, it’s not about that. I’m with you, Harden, I love you, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Just goes to show, everything happens for a reason, but…what happened to him, driving off that cliff all hopped up on those pills, it shouldn’t have happened.”
Harden nodded. “It’s always hard to say goodbye. I know my father, Harold was his name, he was…he was my hero, my idol, the best man I’ve ever known or ever would know. He hated that I was friends with Paulie; I know how disappointed he was in me. The night before he died, we’d had a fight about it; he threatened to move us out of the state if I didn’t stop hanging out with him. I was stubborn, of course. The last thing he said to me—I’ll never forget it—he said, ‘You…you had it all.’” Harden cracked a bitter smile. “You had it all, like I’d already blown it at fifteen years old.”
“Oh, Harden—” Kerri said sympathetically.
“I mean, I know he didn’t mean it to be so severe. We would have gotten things around again, but…it sure hurt at the time. And then what happened the next day—knowing I’d never have a chance to prove to him that he was wrong, that I hadn’t blown it, that I still had a chance, that he didn’t have to be so distressed about my future.”
Kerri leaned against him, nuzzling him for comfort and support. “And that’s what inspired you to…to all this: the money, the success, rescuing everybody all the time.”
“I couldn’t help him,” Harden said, staring off, his voice low and croaking in his throat. “But I’ll never fail anybody that I love again, Kerri, I won’t.”
“I know you won’t,” Kerri said, wiping her teary eye on his shoulder. “You’ll never fail me, no matter what.”
But the events of the day were coming, and neither Kerri nor Harden could be certain of anything, much less their own safety.
Chapter 13
One of those big, tuxedoed men led Harden and Kerri into the east wing of the church complex, down a long, ornate hall lined with stone saints and oil-painted visions of heaven and hell.
Elias Olafssen sat behind a massive ebony desk—a stark contrast to his shiny, shaved, bald head—white as snow. The desk was so highly polished, it looked to Kerry almost like a mirror, offering a twisted reflection of the people sitting around it. The blurred figure of Elias’s white head was like a full moon against that polished ebony midnight.
And the two guards, one behind Elias at his desk, and the other near the door, would make any kidnap plan impossible, for the time being.
“I’m so pleased you’ve accepted my invitation,” Elias said, his voice a slow crawl through the upper-middle section of his throat, tucked back into the corner of his nasal cavity. “You’re the type of patron Het Huis van Schaduwen can appreciate.” He was looking at and speaking to Harden, his attention falling to Kerri only to admire her legs or breasts or face.
He glanced at the guard behind him. “I hope my men don’t put you off. They’re always nearby.” Elias looked at Kerri, one eyebrow raised. “Unless I’m fucking somebody. But even then, they’re never far away.”
Harden said, “I very much enjoyed myself during our last visit.” He looked at Kerri and added, “We both did.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Elias said. “I quite enjoyed it myself.” Harden sat, unfazed, but Elias nevertheless explained, “It’s a matter of security, to have cameras in every room, and security of course. I’m sure you understand.”
“I do.”
“But you needn’t worry, if blackmail is your concern. I’ve no need of money or political clout. It’s a matter of our client’s safety. After all, the dungeons are soundproof, we have to maintain some kind of control over the goings on.”
Harden nodded.
Kerri glanced at Elias’s contorted, twisted reflection in that polished wood and couldn’t help but wonder if that wasn’t his true face, his true nature, and the smiling, civil man was the distortion, the lie.
But what struck Kerri most was that this man had revealed to her how to get him alone.
Kerri said, “Perhaps you’d like to join us?”
A quick and tense silence overwhelmed the office, the two guards trading glances, Elias looking at Kerri with open-mouthed awe. He turned to Harden. “She speaks.”
Harden tried to smile. “She’s still in training. But I spoil her, as you can see.”
Elias nodded. “In any case, it’s an offer I must refuse.” He stood abruptly. “And with that, I will ask you to leave.”
Harden stood and Kerri followed his lead. Kerri’s legs were jittery, bile bubbling in her guilty gut. Harden said, “It was good of you to have us.”
Elias looked Harden over, then offered Kerri a little sneer. “I’ll thank you not to return.”
Kerri wanted to apologize, to try to pedal back on her blunder. But she knew even a single word would only make things worse, perhaps much worse, or even the worst.
“What the hell happened?”
“Don Paulie, there was nothing we could do. He had two guards in the
room; we never could have gotten to him.”
“That’s fine, Hard, I get that. But what was that broad doin’, mouthin’ off like that?”
Harden nodded and shrugged, phone to his ear as he paced the hotel suite’s living room. “Okay, Paulie, I know that you’re upset, but this is my wife, and I don’t let people talk about her that way. We’re here to help you out.”
“No disrespect intended, I appreciate what you two are doing for me. Unfortunately, what you’re doing is getting me killed!”
“It was a setback, that’s true. But we’re not over yet.”
“Setback? How are you gonna get back in there now, much less get that guy alone? Damnit, Hard!”
“I know, I know, it…it complicates matters a little bit. But I’ll figure something out, Paulie, I promise you.”
After a tense pause, Paulie said, “Awright, Hard, awright. Don’t leave me with my ass hangin’ out the window. I’m not the kind of man who likes to die alone. Get me?”
“Sure, Don Paulie, sure.” Harden swiped the screen and set the phone down.
Kerri said, “He’s pretty upset, huh?” Harden could only nod. “I’m sorry, Harden, I… It just seemed like a good way to get him alone. You heard what he said.”
“And you heard what I said. You weren’t to speak.”
“I know, I know, it’s just, I couldn’t help it.”
“Exactly, that’s just what I was afraid of—that you wouldn’t have the self-control for this, the discipline, even after all this time together—”
“That’s not true, Harden, I do! I’ve got more control and discipline than anybody I know, except for you, of course.”
“It doesn’t really matter now. Even if they let us in, we’ll never get close enough to Elias to knock him out.” Harden started to pace, rubbing his chin and staring off as his imagination strained.
“What about the local police? Can’t we put a raid together?”
“Can’t trust ’em,” Harden said. “And like Paulie explained back in the States, if there’s a raid and he slips out, Paulie’s dead. And at this point, he may take us out as a good-bye gift.”
“Us? You and me? But…he’s your childhood friend; he owes you his life!”
“If we cost him his, all debts are cleared. Then we owe him. That’s the way it is in O.C.”
“New Jersey is called O.C.?”
“Organized crime.”
“Right. Well how am I supposed to know that?” Harden could only shrug and keep pacing, silently reviewing their dwindling prospects. “Wait, I’ve got it!”
Harden turned, one brow raised.
“He wasn’t into a threesome, that’s fine. Hey, people like what they like, right? And this guy likes to kill women,” Kerri reasoned aloud.
“Kerri?”
“So you go to the guy and tell him you wanna snuff me out—” She explained matter-of-factly.
“No, Kerri.”
“Harden, listen, it makes perfect sense! You tell him that’s why you brought me here, that you’ll pay anything. He’ll let us in, for sure.”
“And then what?”
“Well, think about it. This is a rare opportunity for him to really bust his nut. You think he’s gonna pass it up? He wouldn’t dare put anyone else in charge of this, and you heard what he said about his guards; he won’t want them there for that. As soon as Elias walks in, hit him with the pen and then Paulie’s guys charge in as planned.”
“No, Kerri.”
“Yes, Harden! I have to do it! It’s my fault that you and I are in an even bigger mess, because of my big mouth. Anyway, you saw the look in that guy’s eyes; he’s a maniac and he’s got to be stopped,” she exclaimed.
“That’s just it, Ker, he’s a maniac. I’m not handing you over to him to be slaughtered.”
“You won’t be doing that, Harden. You’ll be there with me, we’ll improvise, we’ll make it work,” she pleaded. Harden hesitated, and Kerri added, “You said it yourself. If we don’t pull this off, we’re both dead anyway. What have we got to lose?”
Chapter 14
Elias Olafssen took a closer look at Harden from behind his ebony desk. “That’s quite a request, Mister…?” Harden smiled. “Of course. I admit to being quite surprised to hear it. You two seemed to have quite some chemistry, I must say.”
“She’s been great,” Harden said, Elias’s guard glancing at him from behind his master’s back. “She’s a lot of fun. But she talks too much, as you already know. And she knows a few things about my business, things I wish she didn’t know, things I don’t want anybody else to know…ever.”
“I understand that,” Elias said. “The world can be a complicated and dangerous place.”
“Indeed.” Harden agreed.
“Though you could resolve that matter in so many stealthier and more convenient ways.”
“I could.” Harden nodded. “But there’s a risk. I understand that the risk here should be minimal.”
Elias tilted his head and smiled, but there was no joy in it. “You understand that…from whom?”
Harden smiled. “From being here, on more than one occasion. Do I mistake it?” The men stared each other down, tension swelling like a bubble, soon to burst. Sensing Elias’s doubt, Harden went on, “There’s something else, something a bit more…sensitive.” He glanced up at the guard. “Can we discuss it…in private?”
“Not unless you want to jerk me off while we’re talking…and even then, it’s not likely.”
Harden let his eyes shift around the office, guiltily biting his lip. “Can I count on your discretion and your confidence?”
Elias smiled, arms stretching out to his sides. “That’s what you’re paying for.”
Harden looked around again and then leaned forward. “The thing is, it’s not merely that I have to do it, and I do have to, but…I also want to do it, you know what I mean?” Elias looked on impassively, expression motionless. Harden said, “I’m a rich man, I’ve been everywhere and done everything. Well, almost everything. And I see this as…an opportunity as well as a crisis.”
“You’re a fan of Chinese philosophy?”
Harden smiled. “I’m a fan of a lot of…exotic things. But I need the right place, the kind of a place where I won’t have to worry about security, about rooms that aren’t soundproofed. I need a place with all the right…tools for the job. I want to do a nice, long, thorough job, and not have to be looking over my shoulder. So for this occasion, you turn off the cameras.”
“I can’t disable the cameras—”
“Double the amount we discussed, but we cover the cameras inside the room. I’ll comb the place beforehand.”
Elias looked Harden over, a slow nod confirming some internal notion. He went on, “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”
Harden nodded, letting his sense of the dramatic take over. “I haven’t been able to think about anything else—how it’s going to feel, how I’m going to do it. Every time I think about it, I…” Harden began breathing a bit heavier, then shook himself out of it. “I’ve made my decision. Are you in, or shall I go elsewhere?”
A doubting moment passed before Elias said, “One million before, the second half immediately afterward, and I mean…before you leave here.”
“That’s not a problem,” Harden said, keeping his composure.
Elias gave it some thought, his eyes shifting under his smooth-shaven bald head. “Bring her here tomorrow morning, our off hours. Enjoy the woman one last time in the dungeon. I can’t disable the cameras, or rather I won’t. But we’ve got a different room for…exceptional requests like yours. Bring her there when you’re done and we’ll finish her together; that’ll be all the insurance you’ll need against a double-cross.”
Harden let the offer land, cracked a little smile, and nodded before both men stood and shook hands on the deal.
Amsterdamse Bos was Dutch for Amsterdam Forest, and that’s just how it felt. It seemed endless and lush, a series of ponds and
meadows and clutches of pine, oak, poplar, and hickory. An Alpine swift fluttered through the blue sky, unbothered by anything, an innocent surrounded by a natural, uncorrupted environment.
Kerri watched that bird fly off, free and unfettered, unbound. Kerri wondered if she’d ever be able to enjoy that freedom again, that life. Both she and Harden knew this was a last quiet moment together before what could be their last day alive. But they were both resolved, certain that they had to push on, and that they had not only to persevere but to prevail. This was life or death, and Kerri knew that while Harden would have a chance of surviving her, she had no chance of getting through it if Harden didn’t survive.
But if he didn’t, Kerri had no reason to live anyway, and that helped drain the fear from her resolved heart and slightly eased the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Harden looked around the calm park, seemingly a world away from the decadence and wickedness of the world they chose to inhabit, perhaps for the last time. Harden said, “I’m sorry I brought you here.”
“No, Harden, no. We’re a team. Ride or die. But I think you were right about one thing; it’s not who you were that’s important, it’s who you are now, who you’ll always be.”
Harden smiled, gazing at the beauty surrounding them. “Maybe. But I was running away from my past, all this time, away from my…my sense of duty to my father, but…I see now that I was just spinning around in circles. Sure, I may have been going up, but I wasn’t moving forward, not ’til I met you.”
“Harden, I—”
“No more running, Kerri, not for either of us.”
“Why run now? We’ve found what we were looking for. Where is there to go, where else to be than by each other’s side?”
Harden pulled Kerri close, their lips meeting in a tender touch, noses glancing, a sweet and gentle moment that each knew would only be found again in their memories, or in the world that awaited them in the hereafter.
The long leather sleeves were laced all the way up Kerri’s arms, complete with affixed black leather gloves. She’d never seen or heard of such a thing, but she couldn’t deny their effectiveness. Her arms were encased and bound, shoulders pulled back tight.
Billionaire Benefactor Daddy: A Single Dad & Virgin Romance Boxset Page 85