by S. M. Dapelo
“What did you find?” I asked Lyssa again.
“I didn’t, one of our other teams did. Steve’s not involved,” she smiled. “Either is the Senator. It doesn’t mean they’re not interested in how the program worked. If you hadn’t had the memory issue, they’d probably have you locked in a little room doing experiments.” She thought for a moment, “Until Ethan blew them up. And he would.”
“I have no doubt,” I smiled. “And Peterson?”
“Berto did a check earlier. I heard him tell Tanner that he’s somewhere here in town. He hasn’t been able to track down exactly where.” She took a sip from a cup.
I went through my files in my head. “Lyssa, do you know if anyone talked to Dickie?”
“Who’s Dickie?” she asked, scrunching up her face.
“He’s a money launderer here in Las Vegas,” Jeff butted in. “He’s someone the agency would use to track things down occasionally. So would a few other groups.”
“He hangs out at the pool at the Bellagio,” I said rubbing my head.
“Are you getting another headache?” asked Lyssa.
“Yeah. I probably need to eat. I haven’t had breakfast yet,” I said as I walked toward the dining room.
Berto came racing back, pale and his eyes wide, “Um.”
“What?” I reached down and poured a cup of coffee.
“I called Ethan. I was talking to him when suddenly there was yelling and gunfire. Then I lost him. I tried calling Tanner, and he didn’t answer. Either did Xavier,” he took a breath.
I noticed my hand shaking, “Can you still trace their location?”
“It stopped moving. I sent a group there to check on everything,” he stared at me. My mind started going a million miles.
Jeff nodded, “I know where they were headed. Those idiots you grabbed last night insisted they were supposed to take you to a specific location. Ethan and the other two were going to investigate it.”
I took a breath, “Do you think the goons were lying?”
He shook his head, “No. These were just some thugs that were picked up to do a random job. If anything went wrong, they were going to be the scapegoats. Whoever planned this was an idiot, for the most part.”
“Peterson,” I growled. I was shaking so bad I put the cup down.
“We don’t have the firepower to go blazing in there,” Jeff stared at me.
“We can get it and verify if that’s the correct location, or if we should be focusing on somewhere else,” I nodded. “Berto, let me know what the other team finds and get Rich up here in case we need a doctor. Lyssa, do recon on the address, but be careful.” She nodded. “Jeff and I are going to go play with a money launderer and grab some massive firepower.”
“You’re not great with guns,” Berto winced. “There was an incident a few years ago and you’ve been useless since then.”
“I’m great with guns,” Jeff said. “One of the many things they trained me for was a sniper.”
“That’s why you’re visiting Dicky with me,” I had a strained smile, trying to keep my panic at bay.
“Sam, should you be doing this?” Berto asked.
“I don’t have a choice,” I snapped. “Sure, I was planning on checking a few things out with Dicky anyway, but I wasn’t planning on getting into the middle of anything. If my family’s in trouble, I will get involved. Is there anybody else who can do what I do?”
Jeff raised his hand with a smirk. “Not you,” I growled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t remember you. Turn on me and mine, and I’ll end you slowly.”
His smile faded, “I understand you don’t remember me. I came to this group because I remembered you. I thought you might be next on the list. Then the accident happened, and Ethan’s team was suddenly informed that his wife, a wife none of us knew of, had a major head injury that resulted in memory loss. I thought that was bull. I see it’s not. I also see that your husband adores you.” He smiled, “You’re lucky. I’m glad I chose right.”
I frowned at him, “You might need to remind me of things.”
“Deal.” He started walking toward the door, “I’ll be back in five ready for a pool party. If the calls Xavier kept making to Tanner are any indication, I’m looking forward to what you're wearing.”
I watched him leave the villa. “Berto, do a full background on him and cross-reference everything on him with my years before The Ryker Group. Also, I want to know how Peterson screwed him over. Call Steve and let him know we might know where Brock is. Tell him he’s not getting him back alive.”
“On it,” Berto walked out of the room.
I walked to my room and changed, throwing a loose mini dress over everything. When I walked out, Lyssa handed me a phone, “Keep this on you and call me as soon as you have an idea.”
“Will do, and call me if they make contact.” I threw on several bracelets, putting a bobby pin in them along with in my hair. I grabbed a tactical pen, that I added to the front pocket of my purse, and added a lighter, just in case.
“Sam.” I glanced up to look at Lyssa who smiled softly at me, “They’re gonna be fine. They’ve faced worse.”
“Worse than a person who’ll force brain surgery on you?” I raised a brow, and she looked away. “Tanner was right; this is gonna get bloody.” I walked out the door to meet Jeff and took the elevator down.
Chapter 43
“I got you a cabana at the Bellagio,” Berto’s voice came over the earpiece. “Try to keep your phone on at all times. I’ll listen in and do that magic that I do. I need names, address, or anything he can give.”
“Fine. Keep yours on mute,” I answered as I walked into the hotel with Jeff trailing behind. We quickly found the cabana that had been reserved, and I took off the minidress and walked out.
Jeff’s threw on a pair of sunglasses and fell into step with me. “How pissed is your husband going to be that I hung out with you naked?”
“I’m not naked,” I rolled my eyes and put on some shades as well.
“Might as well be,” he muttered.
“The idea is to keep them from remembering my face.” I smiled as I grabbed a drink that was sitting on a random table.
“Isn’t it early for that?” he asked.
“I’m not drinking it. Look around, if we don’t have one, we stand out. You’re acting more like my brother than Tanner. What's up with that?” I frowned at him as I took in the area.
Jeff was doing the same, “I know you don’t remember it, but I was like your brother in the early days until they separated us. We went to the same school, were in the same grade, and were thrown into the same foster home until those bastards kidnapped us.”
I glanced at him, “We didn’t …?”
He made a face at me, “God no, Samantha. Like I said, you were like my sister. It’s not like I didn’t have a crush on you at one time, and you had one on me.”
“Sure, I did,” I smiled at him.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “All the boys had one on you. When you’re stuck in a micro-community, and there’s only one girl.” He thought for a second, “After training, they split us up. Probably realized we’d figure out their game if we stayed together.”
“Yet you still knew how to find me.” I started walking toward one of the smaller pools with a huge fountain in the middle, “Is that him?” I asked indicating a chubby thirty-something with a pierced ear and blue hair.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “He knows how to stay under the radar,” he smirked. “They put you with the agency and me with Interpol. We ran in the same circles a lot. Even ran some cases together. Gotta say I did not see you and Ryker happening.”
I frowned, “Why not?”
“Your fear of commitment. You were more of a guy than any of our group,” he whispered then got a huge smile. “Hey Dicky. How’s it going?” he asked boisterously.
The man looked up and what first was a look of annoyance turned into panic when he saw it was the two of us, �
�What … how?”
I sat next to him in the pool. “I’m going to guess by your response that you think we should be dead,” I kept the smile on my face.
Jeff sat on the other side of him, “That is a dreadful thing to believe.”
“Listen, I didn’t set you up. You know that, right?” Dicky was trying to control his breathing and had a fake smile.
“No, I don’t know that,” I shrugged, faking taking a sip of my drink.
“I know that,” Jeff patted his shoulder. “I also have a feeling you know who did.” Jeff gave a smile that resembled a shark’s, “Who set us up Dicky?”
“I can’t tell you that,” the schlub protested. “Client confidentiality.”
“You put client confidentiality over friendship?” I put a hand over my chest, “I am shocked.” I looked past Dicky to Jeff, “Can we just shoot him now?”
“You can’t shoot me.” Dicky was glancing around hurriedly, “We’re in a public place.”
“I currently have a scorched earth policy, Dicky.” I smiled at him, “If you’re not helping me, you’re helping the asshole who set us up. I might not shoot you, but I can make your death look like an accident. Now, who is it?”
“I don’t agree with the scorched earth thing,” Jeff shrugged. “But the only person who’s ever been able to control her is her husband, and he’s missing right now. It’s in your best interest to talk.”
“Okay, look the guy’s a jerk so what do I care. He stiffed me last time. He was here looking for you, Sam, thought you’d be staying here. He’s got great cheekbones, but that’s about it.” He was trying to look calm, but he had sweat being on his forehead and his breathing was shallow.
I reached back and grabbed my phone, then pulled up a picture, “Is this him?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’s a total douche.” Dicky smiled, “So we’re good, right?”
I laughed and shook my head, “No.”
“We need to know if you have any intel on him,” Jeff smiled as he waved down an employee. “Can I get a strawberry smoothie? It’s on Dicky’s tab.” The worker smiled and walked off.
Dicky sighed, “Okay. For starters, I had no idea how to get a hold of either of you. I want that on the record.”
“We’ll take that into consideration,” Jeff said dryly.
“He’s got a few accounts he wanted to be scrubbed. Said he needed them done right away. But since he was a jerk, it’s taken a little longer than it should,” Dicky shrugged.
“Say the account numbers into the phone,” I held it up.
“You’re recording me?” Dicky squeaked.
“Of course not. We have someone listening in on the other end,” Jeff smiled as he took his drink and thanked the server. “We also need you to give any phone number and addresses you might have.”
“We’re going to make Mr. Douchebag go away,” I said, which got the first sincere smile from Dicky.
“Why didn’t you say so,” he grabbed the phone and started giving details.
When he finished, I took the phone and smiled, “We’re going to need a few extra things, that aren't your specialty. We need you to point us in the right direction.”
“This is to get rid of the ass?” he asked.
“It is,” Jeff said.
“Okay, well since it’s for that. Any other reason and I would have sent you to Renaldo. But I want you to get the best for this, so I’ll send you to Zhang,” he nodded.
“Are you telling me you never sent me to the best before?” Jeff asked annoyed.
“Yeah,” Dicky took his glasses off. He pointed at me, “Her I always sent to Zhang because if she found out I sent her to the second best, she would have fed me my testicles.” He shrugged, “You were always just happy to get the weapons.” Jeff growled as Dicky wrote down the address.
“Thank you, Dicky. If this works out, I’ll see if Ethan can send you some business,” I said.
His eyes got wide, and he grabbed the paper. “If you’re talking about Ethan Ryker, then you want to go to Desdemona. She’s the best of the best.”
I got stone-faced, “You weren’t sending me to the best of the best?”
“Zhang is Samantha best, but Desdemona is Ryker best,” Dicky smiled.
“Did she used to date Ethan?” I growled.
“No.” Dicky was vigorously shaking his head, “She dated his Head of Security. Tanner Lafferty.”
“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” I deadpanned as I swiped the paper away and got out of the pool. I put the phone to my ear, “What’s did you find out, Berto?” I asked walking to the cabana.
Chapter 44
After changing in the cabana, Jeff in jeans and a t-shirt, me in cargo pants and a backless shirt, we headed to the address Dicky gave us for his arms dealer. It was outside the city limits and I rolled my eyes when I saw it. “Ethan’s gonna kill me,” I muttered.
“After he kills me,” agreed Jeff. “I’m supposed to be your bodyguard and I take you to a brothel?”
I put my hand over my mouth, “Oh my God. Tanner dated someone from here?”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Jeff shook his head.
“Let’s get this over with,” I got out of the car. “It took too much time to get out here already. If they don’t have what we need I’m blowing this place up.”
“How? If they don’t have what we need, you won’t have any C-4,” Jeff argued, following me.
“Microwave,” I answered. “I just need to remove one piece, add silverware and run,” I shrugged.
“That’s why you were the best,” Jeff shook his head. “You made weapons when none could be found.”
“Please,” I rolled my eyes. “I learned that from a TV show.”
“Well, that’s terrifying,” he muttered.
We walked into the place of business, walked up to the receptionist, and asked for Desdemona. The woman gave us an odd look, then walked us outside and pointed to the bar at the end. “She’s the bartender. Wrong area.”
“Sorry,” I massaged my temples with one hand.
“Happens all the time.” Her eyes looked us up and down, “We do have couple specials for later on if you’re interested.”
“Good to know. We’ll think about it.” Jeff grabbed my arm and herded me to the bar.
“Or at least tell my baby sister,” I muttered.
It was your typical honkytonk bar, if typical includes a brothel on the other side. We walked up to the bar and a lady with raven colored hair approached. “What can I get you?” she smiled at us.
“He’ll take whatever’s on tap and I’ll take a diet coke,” I smiled. “If your Desdemona, Tanner says hi.”
She stopped for a moment, her head going to the side, “Tanner Lafferty?”
“If it ended well, yes. If it didn’t, I’ve never heard of him,” I said.
She laughed, “It was what it was. How do you know him?”
“I’m one of his sisters,” I shrugged.
“He talked about Lyssa a lot but did mention a Samantha also. Was always sad when he talked about her,” she looked at me.
I nodded, “I seem to excel at making people sad.”
“How is he?” She grabbed a glass for Jeff and handed me a can.
“Missing.” I tried to remain calm, “Along with my husband. I was told that Desdemona can help us get what we need to find him. Specifically, Dicky told me that.”
“Oh, that kind of missing.” She sucked her lips in and looked around, “Follow me.”
She walked us into a back room, “Normally I’d kill you, because people don’t just approach me. But Dicky called and gave a general idea of what’s going on.” She turned to face us, “He also said you two are government.”
I shook my head, “We’re both freelancers. Well, technically he is,” I jerked my head toward Jeff. “I’m part of the Ryker Group.”
“What part?” she looked me up and down.
“The part that’s married to Ethan,” I said.
S
he gave a smile, “Ethan got married. Good for him. He is the most awkward man I’ve ever met.”
“Really?” I scrunched up my face, “I know Berto is, but Ethan?”
That got her to laugh, “Okay, no one is as awkward as Berto, but I think he tries hard for that.” She nodded, “Yeah, you know em. What can I do for you?”
“We need weapons,” Jeff came forward. “Weapons that we didn’t fly into Vegas with.”
She gave me a small smile, “Give me a list.”
Chapter 45
After a productive talk with Desdemona and a fast car ride, we were entering the city limits again. I had the phone dialing. Berto picked up. “We got everything we might need,” I said into the phone with no greeting.
“Good. The men got back from recon. There are gun casings all over the place but no blood. I traced the money to a warehouse owned by both Peterson and the General. And a few accounts with a lot of money in them in the Dominican Republic,” he started.
“Can you grab the cash?” I asked.
“Yeah, no problem.” Berto paused, “Are you sure you want me to?”
“Yep. Wait until we give you the signal. I don’t want Peterson to go overboard until it’s too late,” I said. “Have we heard from Lyssa?”
“Not yet. Do you want to wait?” Berto asked.
I took a breath and thought. “We can’t. I’m not taking a chance. Patch her through when she contacts you. I want half the men to meet us there. The other half are on standby. The moment we know they’re there, send the rest.”
“Will do.” Berto paused for a moment, “I found more files.”
“Send a copy to our server. Then delete everything you find anywhere else. We’ll decide what needs to be followed up on later.” I bit my lip, “Berto, do not let anyone outside the inner circle know. Jeff’s the exception.”
“Understood,” Berto said.
“And Berto,” I gave this some thought, “Can you check all the other agencies’ servers. Not just CIA, but FBI, NSA, Russian, etc.? Can you make sure they don’t know it’s you and get rid of any files on them as well?”