He shrugged. “You could say I’m an entrepreneur. I’m in the middle of setting up a new business.”
“That’s interesting. What kind—” She noticed a man approaching them and froze. It was Ricky. Damn! He was dressed to the nines, but she still recognized him without any problem. She gave him a quick once-over. He had a weapon under his blazer.
Ricky glanced at her and nodded a greeting. He turned to whisper something to Granger, then looked back at her. “Aren’t you the gal who broke down outside the warehouse?
Diana smiled. “Small world,” she said. “It’s good to see you, Ricky.” The man didn’t blush this time.
“Boss, this is the chick from the warehouse the other day. The one who needed help.”
Granger swiveled to look at her. “Is she, now?” he asked suspiciously.
“Yup. Told you she was real pretty.”
“Indeed you did. If you’d excuse us, Ricky.” Granger’s entire demeanor had changed. Gone was the charming if oily rogue, and in his place, a psychopath stared back at her.
“So you’ve been inside my warehouse, have you? What were you doing there?”
“My car broke down,” she said with a shrug.
He snorted. “You expect me to believe that? Please. I don’t believe in coincidences. Yesterday you break down in front of my warehouse, and today you show up on Finn Cavanagh’s arm? You’d better start talking now, lady, and I better like what I hear.”
“Very well, Carl. You caught me. I was doing a little recon for Finn.”
“Oh, yes?”
Diana sighed, looking put out. “Word was you had a lot of product to move, but Finn never does business with people he doesn’t know. So, he sent me to check you out.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “And why should I believe you?”
“You don’t have to, of course. But do remember that I’m in charge of business development, which means Finn really values my counsel when it comes to choosing new business partners.”
“But why are you even here? Everyone knows Cavanagh doesn’t deal in drugs.”
“I’m working on him. I think he’s missing a major market opportunity.”
Granger hesitated for a moment and then seemed to come to a decision. His demeanor changed again. The charmer was back. Finn was one of the most respected people in the criminal underworld. If he made a purchase, everyone would follow suit. Granger would be set for life. Diana was dangling the tastiest carrot in front of him—a way in with Finn.
“And what did you think of our little operation when Ricky so kindly took you on a tour?”
Diana shrugged. “I’m not sure what to think. You do have an interesting set up, but I’m not sure you can manufacture the quantities we’re interested in.” Granger’s eyes widened.
“That’s just the test lab,” he said quickly. “We’re bringing in more equipment, and I’ll be able to manufacture in far greater quantities in the future. However much you need, I can supply.”
“I’m not convinced, Carl. Granted, I applaud your ingenuity. I mean, scopolamine complete with an ingenious delivery system certainly makes your product much more valuable, but if you can’t cover the demand, what’s the point in getting involved?”
“It is brilliant, isn’t it? I came up with the idea of aerosolizing the scopolamine myself.”
“Really?” she said, her eyes widening. “I’m very impressed.” She stopped for a moment. “If you can guarantee delivery of at least a thousand canisters a week, for starters, we might be able to do business together.”
Granger stiffened for a moment, but then he nodded. “I can definitely guarantee those figures.” He paused, eyeing her a little more shrewdly than she would like. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you need so much?”
“I do mind you asking,” she snapped. Then she softened. “But since you’ve been such a gracious host, I will tell you that we have partners all over the world who are interested in your product.”
“You do, do you?” Granger sounded unconvinced. “Well, you don’t need to worry your pretty little head, because when I make a promise, I always keep my word.” There was a threatening undertone to his words. Had she given the game away?
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said.
“So, when do you want the first delivery?” he asked casually.
“We’re looking to start shipping out next week,” she replied, just as casually. He was studying her a little too intently. And he was leaning toward her.
He grinned wolfishly. His eyes hardened. “How about we go to the bar to order ourselves a celebratory drink?” It wasn’t a request.
“We already have our drinks, Carl.”
“I mean something more celebratory.”
“I have champagne. How much more celebratory can you get than that?” She was stalling. “I’m sorry, but I have to get back to Finn.”
“I’m certain Finn won’t mind you having a little celebration with his newest business partner,” he said with a hard smile.
Diana was caught in a bind. If she refused, Granger would become more suspicious than he already was. She considered calling in the guys, but he hadn’t implicated himself enough yet. Granger was not as stupid nor as oblivious as everyone thought him to be.
“A drink it is,” she said with a smile. She knew it was strained.
When he grabbed her elbow in a punishing grip, she knew he had caught on to her. “Who are you really?” he whispered in her ear as he guided her toward the back of the room. This was not the way to the bar.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I told you exactly who I am. Where are we going?
Granger put his face close to hers and glared. “I’m no fool. You know Finn. You’ve been snooping around my warehouse. You are up to something. I’m going to find out what.”
Diana stiffened. She readied herself to pull free from Granger. “Don’t even think about it, lady” he hissed in her ear. “One wrong move and I will gas this entire room with scopolamine. Then, do you know what I’m going to do?” Diana didn’t reply. “I’ll kill everyone, including your beloved Finn.” He showed her the small dead man’s switch he was holding in his palm. “You try anything, my thumb comes off this button and everyone here will become my puppet. Then, they will die.”
She looked up at him in horror. “You wouldn’t,” she breathed, deciding to drop the charade. “You’d breathe it in too,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “That would be foolish of me. And I am nobody’s fool, Ms. Hunter. You think I don’t come prepared? Now, you and I are going to have a little talk, and you’re going to tell me precisely who you are and what you’re up to.”
Diana knew Peter and the other guys could hear everything, but if they made a move, they risked a massacre. She prayed they wouldn’t intervene. She had to deal with Granger alone.
“Fine,” she snapped. “Let’s go, then.” She picked up speed, surprising Granger.
“Eager little thing, aren’t you?” Granger asked, giving her a suspicious look.
She glared at him. “If Finn sees you manhandling me like this, he will hurt you. And I really like this dress. Blood stains are so difficult to get out of delicate fabrics.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment further. He moved faster. He was now dragging her behind him. They went through a door in the back of the room that was well hidden in a small alcove.
They ended up in a maintenance corridor. None of the elegance of the Fairmont here. Just concrete, metal pipes, and cables. No one followed them. Diana was purposefully silent. It was just her and Granger.
He pulled her down the corridor, bypassing a number of doors. He took her down a flight of stairs, turned left and then right. Finally, they came to a small, metal door that was so out of the way, she doubted it was ever used. Her suspicions were confirmed when the door opened with a loud whine and the sound of metal scraping on metal.
He pushed her into the room, and she stumbled, almost los
ing her footing. She looked around. The room was lit by a single bulb hanging down from the ceiling. Around her were old, metal, filing cabinets. This must have once been the Fairmont’s archive, during the days when everything was done on paper. No wonder it was never used now.
She squared her shoulders and faced Granger. Her heart squeezed tight. This was not going to be pleasant, judging by the look of pure sadistic glee on Granger’s face. He was still clasping the dead man’s switch.
“You know,” he said as he closed the door behind him and locked it, “I was hoping to have a little fun tonight, but you have surpassed my expectations tenfold,” he said with a small sigh. She glanced at the switch he was holding.
He snickered. “Don’t even think about it. I can do you some serious damage with one hand just fine. And with the other, I can do a whole lot more. But you’re going to keep still like a good little girl. You don’t want to be responsible for Finn’s death, do you? Or those of all the other lovely people up there.”
Diana snorted. “And how are you going to kill them from down here? Mind control?”
He shrugged. “The canisters are a special blend this time. In half of them, the scopolamine is laced with air freshener.”
“And in the other half?”
“Cyanide.” Granger put his hand in his pocket. “This one,” he said, indicating the dead man’s switch in his hand, “is for starters. And this one,” he pulled another switch, wrapped with tape, from his pocket, “is for dessert.”
Diana felt a chill go down the back of her neck. What was going on? “You’d kill all your potential clients?”
He waved his left hand, the one holding the switch. “I can find more, easily enough. They’re all scum anyway.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “And what does that make you? A saint?” she asked sarcastically.
“Not a saint but a savior. I’m going to bring order to crime in this city,” he said confidently. “All those mobsters in that room up there call it “organized crime,” but not the way I like it. I’m going to do a little “restructuring.”
Dots connected in Diana’s mind. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? You were never going to sell the scopolamine. You got everyone here tonight to drug them and get them to turn their businesses over to you, didn’t you?”
“Very good, Ms. Hunter. Yes, that was the plan. I’m going to take over this city, and no one will be left to oppose me, because everyone who’s anyone in this city’s criminal underworld is here tonight. And they’ll all give me anything I want thanks to the scopolamine. Then they’ll all die.”
“How did you get the scopolamine inside the building? This place has been staked out for days.”
“The cops were too clever by half. We went low tech, this time, precisely because they were expecting something sophisticated. The canisters were hidden around the room just before the party started.” He was right. They had been expecting something much more imaginative.
“You are insane,” Diana whispered.
“Maybe. But it’s good to be me,” he said with a cocky grin. “Now, your turn Ms. Hunter. Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
“I told you who I am and what I want.”
“Please, Ms. Hunter. We both know you aren’t interested in buying from me. So, what are you really after? Were you and Finn planning to take over my business?” He paused for a moment, looking her up and down. He shook his head. “No, you don’t strike me as the type to get involved in the drug trade. Maybe you’re working with the cops,” he spat out.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, appearing to be insulted.
He walked toward Diana menacingly. She backed up until she hit something hard. Damn it!
He was way too close to her now. She could smell the excitement rolling off him, and it turned her stomach. He pulled out a knife, which he put down right next to her. Then he pulled out a gun, which he had stashed at his back, placing it next to the knife. Diana swallowed hard. He knew she was powerless. She wouldn’t risk all those people’s lives. There were at least two hundred partygoers up there who were completely innocent.
“Now, Ms. Hunter, are you going to tell me the truth or will you make me a very happy man and force me to have some fun with you?”
Diana raised her chin in challenge. “Bring it on,” she snapped.
“Bring it on? Jesus Christ,” Peter growled. His heart had sunk into his boots when he realized Diana’s cover had been blown. And then, instead of slowing Granger down to give him a chance to get to her, she took off! Again! What was she playing at?
He continued down corridor after corridor, frantically checking doors that led off hallways and alcoves that formed dead ends. See? Diana should have worn an earpiece. Didn’t he say as much?
Where the hell are you, woman?
He was listening intently to Diana’s conversation with Granger through his earpiece, trying to pick up clues that would help him find her.
“Rutledge, Ericson, did you hear that? Get everyone out. He’s planted cyanide.”
Both men acknowledged him. “Do it fast. No panic. Got it?”
He picked up his speed. She was somewhere. He just had to find out where.
“How will your plan work, Granger? Even if you do take ownership of organized crime in this city, how will you get the syndicates to do your bidding once their bosses are dead? They are notoriously loyal and will gang together against you. Did you think of that? You’d soon be toast. “
“Hah! But I have the scopolamine, remember? You have no idea the power that gives me.” He walked up to her menacingly and ran a finger along her bare collarbone. “Anyone, anyone, will do my bidding. The consequences of not doing so are too devastating. Everyone will be eating out of my ha—”
Without warning the door was forced open and crashed loudly against the wall, startling the room’s occupants.
“What the hell?” Granger snarled.
“Police!” Peter barked, leveling his gun at Granger’s head. “Let her go!” The momentum of the force he had used to break the door open had propelled him into the room but his lightening fast reflexes and physical strength enabled him to recover his sure-footedness immediately. He stood panting, and glaring at Granger. He didn’t move.
Granger also didn’t move. He grinned.
“Peter, don’t! He’s got a dead man’s switch,” Diana warned. “Stand down.”
Peter watched Granger drag Diana in front of him and secure her with his left arm, switch in hand, while picking up a gun with his right. He was still aiming his gun at Granger’s head.
“Now, I have no intention of letting Ms. Hunter here go, so I suggest you back off unless you want her brains splattered across your starched white shirt and the deaths of three hundred or so people on your conscience.”
“Stand down, Peter,” Diana pleaded.
Peter hesitated. There was no way he could get a clear shot at Granger, nor could he get to the switch in time. He couldn’t risk Granger carrying out his threat against Diana. Out of options, he lowered his gun and backed away as Granger advanced on him, Diana between the two men.
Peter continued to back away as Granger and Diana slowly retraced their steps to the ballroom. Maintaining a distance of a few feet, Peter’s eyes never left the two as he willed Granger to make a false move. It had seemed a long, frantic search to find Diana in that small room full of files. Now the slow crawl back to the ballroom felt interminable. No one said a word.
Peter’s back barged open the door to the ballroom. Diana and Granger followed him. Immediately, they saw that the room had been cleared except for Rutledge and Erikson who instantly raised their guns.
“Hold your fire!” Peter raised his hand, his back to his fellow detectives, his eyes never straying from Granger’s.
“Everyone back off, or I will kill her,” Granger snarled. “Ricky!” he hollered. Shouts were heard from outside the room, and a few seconds later, Ricky and three other men burst back into the room, b
randishing weapons. “Drop your guns,” Granger demanded of the policemen. When no one moved, he pushed the barrel of the gun harder against Diana’s jaw.
“Fine, fine,” Peter said, dropping his.
Granger snorted. “You think I’m an idiot? Take out the magazine and eject the bullet in the chamber.” He looked around wildly. “All of you. Now!”
They did as Granger ordered.
Peter glanced at Diana. She kept looking at him, then lowering her eyes. Her fingertips were in her clutch bag.
“What are you going to do now, Granger?” Peter asked, “It’s not like you can get out of here. The place is crawling with cops. You might kill us, but they’ll never let you get away.”
Granger laughed. “I’m holding three cops, make that four cops,” he said as he tightened his grip on Diana, “hostage. I think I’ll get out of here just fine.”
“You’re delusional if you think that,” Peter said. He glanced at Diana who nodded very subtly. In her hand was a gun. He nodded back. She had a plan and this time, he would go with it.
Diana took a deep breath. She had one shot at this. She had to get that switch out of Granger’s hand and make sure the button was not released in the process. She had to move fast. She had flipped the safety off her gun, without Granger realizing. She looked up at Peter. She was ready.
Peter stared back at her with stark fear in his eyes, but he nodded. She smiled gently. He didn’t always have to play the hero, a fact he was about to find out.
Diana covered Granger’s hand—the one holding the dead man’s switch—placing her thumb on top of his.
“What—“
She threw her head back into his face as hard as she could. The scream that accompanied the sound of cracking cartilage as she broke his nose let her know she’d hit her target. She quickly brought down her heel on Granger’s foot, giving it a twist for good measure. He hollered again, his grip on the dead man’s switch loosening.
In the background, Diana was aware of a commotion. Peter pulled out the second gun that he had stashed under his jacket earlier and aimed it at Ricky. She heard shots. Nik and Scott dashed to retrieve their weapons.
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