Ruthless: Book 2 of the Shattered Chronicles

by Ciana Stone

  And why would Cord plan on meeting his lover, knowing that Trevor was due to meet him in Odessa?

  That prompted another question. Why hadn’t she heard from Trevor? Despite the number of messages she’d left, he hadn’t called. A new worry crossed her mind, prompted by her own question. Could Trevor have found out about Cord and his lover? Would Cord have told him? And if he did, how would Trevor react?

  A knock at her door drew her attention. She quickly gathered up the pictures and stuffed them into her desk drawer.

  “Yes?” She called as she closed the drawer.

  Her secretary entered. “Are you ready for your messages?”

  Business was the last thing Morgan was interested in at the moment, but it was also the only thing she had available to distract her from her own misery. “Sure.”

  Sandy handed her the message slips and left, closing the door behind her without being asked. There was a message from Roger Stork.

  "What does he want now?" Morgan muttered as she dialed the number listed.

  The number was local and turned out to be a hotel. Morgan was told that Stork wasn’t in. She left a message that she had returned his call and was hanging up the phone when Sandy tapped on the door then opened it a crack and peeked in.

  "Mr. Stork is here to see you," she announced.

  "Fine," Morgan sighed, "Show him in."

  "I'm glad I caught you in, Mrs. Alexander," Stork said as he walked through her office door. "There’ve been some new developments and I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible."

  "Have a seat, Mr. Stork." Morgan gestured to a chair in front of her desk. "Would you like some coffee?"

  "No, thank you," Stork declined and settled his large frame into the chair. "Mrs. Alexander, have you spoken with your husband lately?"

  "No, I haven't,” she said and cast a glance down at the desk drawer.

  "You've had no contact whatsoever?" Stork pressed.

  "It's very important that we be honest with one another, Mrs. Alexander,” he said sincerely. "Your husband has been implicated in a very serious matter, and in order to get to the bottom of this, we do need your cooperation."

  "I understand. So, Mr. Stork, what are these new developments?"

  "Well, Mrs. Alexander, it seems that another deposit was made into your husband's Swiss account. One hundred million dollars to be exact.

  "One hundred million?" Morgan repeated the figure in surprise.

  "Yes," Stork felt sorry for her. She’d been through the ringer since this mess began. Everyone from the CIA to the IRS had questioned her. It had to be hard going through this alone; hearing all the suspicions everyone had about her husband.

  He almost hated to tell her the rest, but he needed to find out how much, if anything, she knew. Her reaction to his next bit of news would tell him a lot.

  "Another piece of information has surfaced," he said, watching her closely. "It seems that the men who met you in your husband's hotel room in Washington posing as CIA operatives were actually professional contract killers."

  "What?" Her eyes flew open wide. "Who would want to have me killed? And how do you know that they were hired to kill me anyway?"

  Stork raised his hand to silence her questions. "We found the body of one of the men in the river. He’s been identified as a known contract player. The other man hasn’t surfaced yet, but we're working on it."

  He leaned forward a bit. "You see, Mrs. Alexander, after your so-called 'little accident' in the car, the city police took the two men into custody and charged them with DUI."

  "Well that certainly explains it. Drunk drivers. What else could they possibly be but hired killers?"

  "As I was about to say," Stork cut her a hard look. "Their bail was posted by a local bail bondsman. Upon questioning, the man informed us that their bail was posted by Mr. Cord Alexander."

  "Cord?" She was visibly stunned, "Why would Cord pay their bail? How would he even know these men, and−Hey! Wait a minute! Are you trying to tell me that Cord hired those guys to kill me? That he killed one of those men? Have you lost your mind? Cord wouldn't−"

  Stork interrupted, "Yes," he said, "It appears that’s exactly what happened.”

  Morgan was rigid in her chair, her hands gripping the arms so tight that her entire body trembled. "That can't be true!"

  Stork saw from her expression that the information had really shaken her. Apparently, she’d been telling the truth all along. As far as she was concerned, they were a happily married couple with no problems between them.

  "Mrs. Alexander," he spoke in a slow, even tone. "Last month a fifty-thousand-dollar withdrawal was made from one of your joint savings accounts. Your husband made the withdrawal. Do you know why he would need that large a sum of cash?"

  Morgan was completely speechless. This can't be real! She felt like she was in a living nightmare and stared at Stork in horror. Cord would never hire someone to kill me! Yet she couldn't explain the withdrawal.

  Suddenly Cassie's face popped into her mind, Oh, no! Could he be so in love with her that he would just want me dead so that I couldn't possibly be in their way? No! Cord could never do anything like that."

  Not able to withstand Stork's scrutinizing stare any longer she jumped up from her chair and walked over to the window and stared out blankly.

  "Mrs. Alexander?" Stork rose and walked over to stand beside her. "Are you all right?" he asked in a soft voice.

  "All right?" She looked up at him incredulously with tears flowing down her face. "Mr. Stork, I don't know if I'll ever be all right again."

  "I'm sorry. I don't enjoy having to tell you all this. But I have a job to do and I need your help."

  "My help?" She turned to him. She had no idea how she could be a help to anyone right now. She felt like the earth had dropped out from under her feet the day she saw the video of Cord and Cassie. Since then she’d been in an endless freefall into darkness, plummeting faster with each passing day.

  "What can I do?" she finally asked.

  "Your husband has disappeared. It’s imperative that we locate him, and we must do it quickly. There are still three shipments of highly toxic waste out there somewhere, and we must find them. One of our agents was sent to Andrews to keep an eye on your husband. We received a report that contact had been made with him but since then our agent has vanished without a trace, just like your husband. We think the two are somehow related, but we don't know how."

  Stork sat again. "What I need from you is any idea, any clue you may have as to your husband's whereabouts."

  She stood before the window for a few minutes staring into space. Finally, she turned and stared at Stork for a long time, trying to decide what to do. At last she made her decision. She’d have to trust him. She went back to her desk and sat, giving him a stoic look. “Okay, Mr. Stork, you want honesty then let's be honest. I thought my husband was going to Andrews to try and figure out how the nuclear waste had disappeared. I offered to−no, I demanded that he take me with him, but he refused.

  “That should have clued me in, but I was stupid. See, I thought Cord and I were happy together and everything was fine between us.

  “I was dead wrong, Mr. Stork. Things weren’t fine at all. Cord didn't leave to go check out the nuclear waste. He left to be with his lover. It seems like I've been a pretty big fool for a long time. He's been having an affair for years, and stupid me, I never suspected. So, if you're so eager to find Cord I suggest you find a woman by the name of Cassandra Billingsley. When you find her, you'll find Cord."

  Stork's eyes widened when he heard Cassandra's name come out of Morgan's mouth. For a moment he didn’t respond then he cleared his throat. "I'm—I-- Mrs. Alexander, I'm at something of a loss for words. I realize this is a very personal matter and I don't mean to pry but how do you know that your husband was having an affair with this woman?"

  Morgan sighed before answering. "I had a little run-in with her the day after Cord left and she told me."

  "She c
ame to see you? Why?"

  "To let me know she'd taken Cord away from me. Seems like she just couldn't pass up the opportunity to gloat. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Stork, I have a business to run."

  Stork stared at her for a moment. His mind was in a whirl. He knew that Cassie had been assigned to watch Cord, but he couldn’t figure out why she would have blown her cover and gone to see Morgan. Unless there really was something going on between her and Alexander. He walked over to the desk and extended his hand to Morgan.

  "Thank you for your time and your honesty, Mrs. Alexander."

  Morgan rose, shook his hand and asked. "I suppose you'll have to report this, won't you?"

  "Yes, I will."

  "I was afraid you'd say that." She wrapped her arms around herself.

  Stork felt ill at ease. He imagined it would be very embarrassing to admit what Morgan had and he didn’t know how to behave. Falling back on his professional demeanor he bade her goodbye and left. He was eager to talk to Harry Robinson and find out if anyone had any leads on Cassie.

  Corpus Christi,Texas

  As they walked along the dock towards the waiting speedboat, Victor questioned Juro again. "Are you sure he is dead?"

  "No one could have survived the desert in his condition.”

  "Then he was alive when you left him?" Victor stopped,looked down at Juro and their eyes met in a clash.

  Juro didn’t flinch at the rage glittering in Victor’s eyes. "Yes, barely. She wanted the sun to finish him slowly, to know that he suffered tremendous agony before he died."

  "That was not what I ordered!" Victor began to walk rapidly toward the boat. "Who does that bitch think she is to ignore my orders? She has begun to think she has the authority to interpret my commands as she sees fit."

  He stopped at the boat that sat tied and waiting. "She has outlived her usefulness."

  "How do you want it handled?"

  "I'll take care of it myself. What weapon was used on Alexander?"

  "A metal pipe."

  "Do you have it?”

  Juro nodded. "In the car."

  "Bring it to me.”

  Juro retrieved a cloth–wrapped object from the trunk of the car and presented it to Victor. Victor unwrapped the pipe and slapped it against the palm of his hand. "Make sure Ramirez’s indoctrination is complete."

  Juro's almond eyes narrowed. "What about the weapon?" He indicated the pipe in Victor's hand.

  "It will be put to good use." Victor said, stepping down into the speedboat. "Bring a boat to the yacht at midnight. You have the coordinates."

  Juro nodded and loosened the ropes as Victor started the boat's engine. He backed away from the dock, then spun the boat in a smooth arc. The water boiled in a frothy tempest behind the boat as Victor pressed hard on the throttle. The bow rose sharply out of the water then slapped down as the boat planed out and gained momentum.

  Steering toward the yacht that was anchored a half–mile offshore, Victor smiled.

  The Gulf - Off the Coast of Texas

  Cassie had grown so accustomed to the yacht that she hardly noticed as the Dark Princess silently slid through the water and headed for the open sea.

  Victor sat in one of the plush deck chairs located at the stern of the boat, watching the lights on the shore grow smaller and smaller. Cassie sauntered over to him, trying to hide a slight stagger that evidence of the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

  "So." She plopped down in a chair beside him. "Don't you have anything to say about me accomplishing my task?"

  "What would you have me say, Cassandra?" Victor's voice dripped with loathing. He could barely stand to look at the woman, she disgusted him so.

  "Well," she slurped her drink noisily. "How about, job well done, or excellent work, or even better –" She reached over and rubbed his leg. "How about telling me how much you want me."

  Victor barked a laugh. "I think not.”

  "What do you mean, you think not? You don't think I did a good job on Alexander? He's dead, isn't he? That's what you wanted!"

  "I was not referring to Alexander. I was referring to you, Cassandra."

  Cassie slid from her chair and knelt on the deck at his feet. She tried to unfasten his slacks, "Come on Victor, you know you want me."

  Victor batted her hands away and rose from the chair. He couldn't imagine how he had ever tolerated such a creature. Her touch repulsed him.

  "Why don't you go into the stateroom and get ready for me.”

  Cassie rose unsteadily and wobbled over to him. "Don't be long." She rubbed her hands up the inside of his thighs. "I'll be waiting."

  Victor walked over to the rail and stood watching the sea as the powerful yacht sliced through the water. After a few minutes, he descended the stairs and entered the stateroom.

  Cassie lay spread out on the bed, naked and waiting. She looked at him with lust–filled eyes as he closed the door.

  Victor picked up a cloth–wrapped object from a large chest of drawers and slowly unwound the cloth. He withdrew the object and moved toward the bed.

  Cassie's expression changed from a look of longing to one of fear as Victor reached for her, the metal pipe held high over his head.

  Only the sea and the wind heard her screams.

  New Mexico

  Cord felt his body shutting down even as his mind fought against the oncoming darkness. Images began to swirl in chaotic confusion before his eyes. Blinking in anxiety and perplexity, he sought to blot out the scenes that swallowed him.

  His dad's face came into focus. They were on his dad's boat, fishing lines dangling in the still water. The sun had not yet risen, lending a ghostly surreal look to the lake. Mist swirled upward from the glassy surface, obscuring the trees that lined the lake in a specter of near transparency.

  He watched his dad's face. The lines had deepened over the years, giving him a rough and craggy look. But the eyes were still as bright as when Cord was a little boy.

  "Dad?" Cord reached out to him. But even as he moved, the vision dissolved. A heavy sadness descended on his heart. He had put off going to visit his parents this year, always finding himself too busy to take time off to see them.

  Now he felt that his chance had passed. He would never be able to tell them that he loved them, that they had been the best parents a boy could have ever wanted. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of the pain they would suffer losing their only child.

  He suddenly heard his mother's voice. Her shape solidified before his eyes. "I can't believe you're leaving home," she said. "It seems like just yesterday, I was bouncing you on my knee. Now here you are, all grown up and soon to be a married man."

  Cord hugged her as her tears began to fall. "Don't worry, Mom," he said. "You won't get rid of me so easy. We'll be around so much you'll be sick to death of us."

  His mother smiled and gently patted his face, "I could never be tired of you, son. You're my child. I'll always love you."

  "I love you, Mom. Mom?” He felt her form melt from his arms.

  A pain shot through his body, making him gasp. His insides clenched into tight knots. Darkness began to press in around the periphery of his vision, threatening to absorb all the light.

  Another vision appeared, one that gripped his heart the way nothing else could. "Morgan!” He saw in the distance, at the center of a large grassy clearing. She turned to him, running lightly through the tall grass, her steps light and sure.

  She was so beautiful. The sun hitting her long flowing hair sent reflections of silver and blue bouncing off its glossy black strands. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness; little crinkles appearing at the corners as her face lit up in a smile.

  "Cord!" She threw herself into his arms and kissed him. "Oh, Cord, I love you so, you can't even imagine." She snuggled up to him with her head on his chest.

  Cord held her tightly, afraid that she, too, would disappear. He wanted to tell her he was sorry that he hadn't listened to her. He should have stayed at home and not go
ne to Andrews. He wanted her to know that she was the center of his life that nothing meant as much to him as she did.

  But as he opened his mouth to speak, he felt her being wrenched from his arms. "Cord!" She screamed as some invisible force pulled her back from him. "Cord!"

  "Morgan!” He cried weakly, feeling as though his heart would explode from the pain.

  "She's not here." A voice came from behind him.

  Turning his head, he saw Trevor and Cable sitting on the ground not far from him.

  "What are you doing here, Dad?" Trevor asked.

  "Get up, Daddy," Cable pleaded, "Get up, so we can go home. I don't like this place."

  Cord's throat tightened and a sob tore loose. He wanted so much to gather his children to him, to tell them how proud of them he was and how much he loved them. But the words wouldn’t come. In utter desolation, he watched as their forms faded.

  All alone with only his pain as company, Cord struggled to breathe, feeling a sharp bolt slice through him with every breath. His own heartbeat thundered in his ears, getting slower and weaker with each passing moment.

  Suddenly a brilliant white light, far in the distance blinded him. He marveled at its purity and brightness, as it grew closer. Damn! You really do see a bright light when you die.

  The realization that he was dying filled him with sorrow for all that would be left undone, all that would go unsaid. Yet even those thoughts began to dissipate as the white light surrounded him.

  A totally consuming pain took hold of him, so intense and absolute that darkness was created inside the light. Into unconsciousness he fell, the deep blackness washing over and through him. His mind shut down and all thought ceased

  Corpus Christi, Texas

  "Have both speedboats disposed of," Victor ordered as he stepped onto the dock.

  "What about the yacht?" Juro inquired as he snapped his fingers to the two men who stood a few yards away.

  The men responded immediately and walked up to Juro. In short curt words he gave them their orders. The men nodded, each one getting in one of the speed boats; the one they had used to pick Victor up from the yacht and the one he had taken earlier.