| |
Monday. Grimaldi Place, Chevy Chase, MD.
Nolan studied picture after picture lining the shelves in the office that was almost as big as his whole apartment back in Seattle. Each new shelf of photographs made his stomach sink lower and lower and lower.
The pictures went back generations the further from the door he went. He wasn’t sure why he was still looking. He’d seen the ones that mattered and understood the significance of what he saw.
Despite this home belonging to Yvonne’s parents, there were hardly any pictures of her or her brothers. And the only ones including Yvonne were as an adult in some business capacity. The other photos were of smiling faces pool side or riding ponies. Yvonne never had that carefree look on her face these other children had. In fact, in all but one picture of her she was off to the side while her brothers were front and center.
On the plane she’d said her father was disappointed in her and that he wouldn’t understand.
He was beginning to grasp the significance of disappointment.
That first day in Kyoto Nolan hadn’t been quite sure what to make of Yvonne. She’d been uptight, controlled, laser focused. Because that was who she had to be in this world.
He’d watched through the window her reception with her family. He’d seen how her brothers treated her.
Yvonne was born into this family but she didn’t occupy an equal share of its heart. She worked hard because she had to if she was going to have a place here.
God, Nolan’s fucked up family wasn’t this cruel. Sure, his mother blamed everyone else for her problems and his dad would probably die as a result of his alcoholism, but Nolan had never questioned whether or not his family loved him.
Yvonne needed to live a little. Do something for herself. But no one had asked him and he would keep his opinions to himself. He was just her one-night stand, a fluke, something that shouldn’t have happened.
Nolan grit his teeth.
There were a lot of things that shouldn’t have happened. That night in Vegas didn’t rate on that list. It had been good, and she’d gone to sleep happy in his arms. But he fucked things up in the end like he always did.
“You going to do some actual work?” Vaughn called out. He was missing his usual good cheer.
“What do you need?” Nolan turned from the pictures.
Vaughn was unpacking a laptop and old ammo boxes he’d converted into carrying systems for his mobile surveillance equipment.
“We’re going to have to set up a lot of cameras. Think you and Riley could tag team that while I get us on-line?”
Nolan glanced at Riley on the other side of the room talking to Grant. “Sure. Something wrong?”
“This job.” Vaughn gripped the edge of the desk. “This spoiled brat of a kid, man.”
“He isn’t the job. They are the job.” Nolan pointed at a staged family photograph.
“I know.” Vaughn shoved his hand back through his hair.
Nolan studied the other man. “Something happen with your brother?”
“Who the fuck knows?” Vaughn turned around, eyes shut. He stood there for a moment before answering in a calmer voice. “Mom called, said she found one of my brother’s stashes. She’s scared he’s selling.”
“Shit.” Nolan grimaced.
“I’ll put a cork in it. Go. Get your sorry ass to work.”
“Copy that.”
Nolan picked up the ammo boxes and set them on the floor, helping clear a little more desk space. He got Vaughn’s frustration. Nolan’s brother had been the darling of their family, too. Before he died. Vaughn’s little brother was one train wreck after another. It was hard to not wonder of either of their situations might be different if they had the same money and resources as Douglas Krieger.
But that wasn’t the job.
They didn’t have to like the people they were hired to protect.
Besides, Douglas wasn’t their only asset to protect. There was the rest of the family. Nolan might not like the lot of them, but he could stomach the job if he thought of it in those terms.
Vaughn rounded up Riley and Nolan, gave them a map of the grounds and the equipment then sent them on their way.
The outside of the old family home looked like it should be in one of those Victorian, old timey shows with women in long dresses and a lot of standing around doing nothing.
“What do you think of all this?” Nolan asked Riley as they trudged through the grass to the fence circling the property.
“I think we’re going to be here a while.” Riley grimaced. “Erin’s not going to like that.”
“Haven’t seen her lately. She doing okay?”
“Yeah.” Riley’s voice went up, and he smiled. “She’s visiting her family this week, then she’s got a few new jobs lined up. I imagine she’ll head home and hole up there until I get back.”
“Translating jobs?”
“Yeah. She’s working with some group that wants to do educational videos for kids in Arabic. She’s really finding niche in education translation.”
“Awesome. Good for her.”
“Makes her feel like she’s still doing something good while living here.” Riley grimaced.
Nolan didn’t offer further comment. Erin had made herself something of a target following her kidnapping. She couldn’t return to the Middle East without endangering her life, so she’d had to find a new path.
Riley and Nolan began the long process of hooking up cameras. Normally they were dealing with a small property. Not this time. The property had a two thousand square foot garage, a fourteen thousand square foot house and a guest house that had to be at least three thousand square feet. It was a lot of ground to secure, especially when their assets weren’t interested in cooperating.
The family was still locked up with the lawyers. No one had mentioned seeing Yvonne since earlier. With any luck she was resting or taking it easy.
Yeah right.
What little he knew of her told him she was working.
Several hours later he and Riley had secured cameras on dozens of different points around the house and got the system online. They had as many eyes on the property as they could get.
Heading toward the rear of the house, Nolan caught sight of the sun glinting off caramel colored hair.
Yvonne had her laptop, and a book set up by the pool. She’d changed, but even her casual clothes looked polished.
“She shouldn’t be sitting out like that.” Riley glanced left then right, checking sight lines.
Nolan changed directions before Riley could. “I’ll go suggest she relocate.”
“See you inside.”
Nolan wasn’t sure if he was glad Riley hadn’t challenged the offer. Maybe the others still saw Yvonne as his assignment. This was Nolan’s chance to slide her to someone else, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Not when he’d begun to understand her.
Yvonne’s head lifted and despite the sunglasses shielding her eyes, he felt her stare on him as he approached.
They’d talked a bit during the flights and seemed to have come to a truce. He could only hope that held. Right now this job felt like they were fighting on two sides.
“Are we safe?” Yvonne tipped her chin up.
“Safe enough for now.” He thumbed at the fence. “We’ve got a couple dozen cameras keeping watch on the grounds.”
“I see.”
“It’s probably not a good idea to be out here after what happened...”
Yvonne tensed. It was barely perceptible. If he hadn’t made a study of her, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.
“I hadn’t—I didn’t—”
“You’re not used to this.” He leaned on the lounge chair next to her.
“I’ll go inside.”
Why did he feel as though he’d just deflated a kid’s balloon?
“Want a hand?” he asked.
“No, I’ve got it.” She closed her laptop and stacked a binder and book on top.
Nolan could move on, but he didn’t want to. “Your family still talking?
“Yes.” She didn’t hide her grimace from him.
“Something wrong?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She straightened to her full height, all of five foot five without shoes, and stretched.
Nolan considered his answer before he spoke. They needed at least one friend here. “Considering we still don’t know what we pulled your brother out of, no.”
She dropped her arms and stared at him, those damn sunglasses hiding half her face. “I don’t know if I said thank you for that or not. Thank you.”
“Just doing my job. Glad we were there.”
“I can’t tell you what you want to know.” She pushed the sunglasses up and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “This whole thing is...”
Nolan watched her. He was truly beginning to understand her.
They were both the responsible sibling. The one who took care of things.
She’d loosened up for one night to have some fun, and he’d unintentionally given her more to shoulder.
“Yvonne?” Nolan straightened and took a step toward her. He was sweaty and gross, but he wanted to be closer to her. “We’re going to do our job no matter what your family chooses to tell us. You’re going to be safe. End of story.”
“It shouldn’t be like this.”
He wanted to smooth the worry off her face, but that wasn’t his right. “I had a brother like Douglas. They put you through hell.”
“Had?”
“Yeah. He picked the wrong car to steal. Some fancy ass car. He drove it straight into a concrete wall. Always did tell him he’d steal the wrong one someday.”
“I-I’m sorry—”
“Don’t. He’s been gone...eight years?” Or was it ten now? Long enough it was just history.
“Sometimes I wonder if that will be Doug. If he’ll...make the wrong friends. Do the wrong thing. He could have died Saturday.”
“But he didn’t. Focus on that.”
Yvonne nodded.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.” He gestured at the house.
She fell into step with him, her things cradled to her chest. Her coloring was better, and she didn’t seem as travel weary. And why the hell was he noticing?
“Nolan?”
“Yeah?” He glanced down at the top of her head.
She didn’t say another word, and he was too chicken to coax her to talk more.Next paragraph here.
MONDAY. ITO SECURITY Office, Kyoto, Japan.
Samuel fought the urge to adjust his tie. Adrenaline skipped through his veins as the elevator rose to the second floor of the building.
Everyone was waiting on him. There would be no more arguing with Sato. No more haggling to get the resources or permission to do as Samuel wished. He was the boss now. Not a partner. The boss. Everyone answered to him.
There would be no more constraints on their empire. They could step out of the small pool Sato had insisted they work in. Samuel could take them to the global level.
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.
His brother’s assistant waited for him on the landing. He was a nervous young man Samuel wasn’t fond of, but he knew the business inside and out.
“Good morning—”
“Are they waiting?” Samuel strode past the young man and through the receiving area.
“Yes, sir.” The assistant quick stepped to keep up with him. “Wait—which they?”
Samuel glanced to his left, at the four men in solid black suits. Every one of them sported a scar or broken nose. These were his people. The ones that made the real money.
“Come on.” He waved for them to follow him.
The conference room was a glass fishbowl. A dozen or so of his brother’s people waited for him. Because of the duel nature of their business, most of these people believed Samuel did marketing for the company, schmoozed high end clients. They had no idea what he really did.
He was looking forward to this meeting. It wouldn’t be a smooth transition. He was aware that many of his employees shared Sato’s opinions about him. It couldn’t be helped, but he was the boss now. If they didn’t fall in line they’d get cut out.
“Morning.” Samuel breezed into the room. “Everyone please take a seat.”
“Who are they?” Karuki remained standing, eyeing Samuel’s men. Karuki was one of those Samuel expected to have to get rid of. The former soldier was a shrewd man, and it had been hard to keep him in the dark to date. He also had a strong dislike for Samuel.
“No one to concern yourself over.” Samuel poured himself a glass of water. “We’re here to discuss how we are moving forward without my brother.”
“Your brother died two days ago and you want to do this now?” Karuki scowled at Samuel.
“Business moves on. My brother would understand and do the same thing if I’d been the one killed. I’m merely honoring him by pushing forward.”
“With what? How do you expect to fill your brother’s shoes?”
“He and I built this company into what it is. I assure you I know more than my fair share about how it is run and what we’re doing.” Samuel slid a hand into his pocket and clenched his fist.
If they weren’t in an office, if these weren’t laypeople, he’d have punched the fuck out of Karuki. Samuel didn’t tolerate his men doubting him like this.
The meeting went on with more of the same. A lot of questions were lobbed at him and it was clear that the staff had no faith in his leadership. Probably something Sato had instilled in them.
Well, they could either get on board or get off. Samuel was running things now.
He ended the meeting then spent some time in his brother’s office, combing through his things and the computer. There were a few things he hadn’t known about, mostly leads to follow up on. He was pleasantly surprised.
Sato might not have liked Samuel, but he had run the company with transparency.
Once he was satisfied he’d killed enough time he left the office in the capable hands of the staff. Business here would continue on much as it had. That was a crucial part to Samuel’s plans. The above-board side of the business had to continue if the other half wanted to thrive.
He took the elevator down to the parking garage. A black car idled, waiting for him.
Samuel got into the back seat. It stank of blood.
Two of his loyal men sat on either side of Karuki facing Samuel. Blood stained the front of his shirt and one eye was swollen.
“If you want to keep your job and family safe, you will fall in line.” Samuel didn’t finish the threat. Karuki was a smart man with enough experience to understand what came next.
“Sato would never let you—”
“Sato kept things from you. Namely the real structure of this company. You only knew one side of the man. He lied to you. I’ve never pretended to be anything except what I am. The choice is yours.” Samuel stared back at Karuki’s one good eye. “We have an understanding?”
Karuki didn’t respond.
Samuel nodded at the door.
One of his men opened it and shoved Karuki out into the garage.
Whatever the man did, Samuel was prepared for. He’d spent months getting to this point.
“What do you have for me?” he asked.
“The police have taken the Yakuza in for questioning. There’s no doubt they ordered the hit.”
“Yes, but have they recovered the drone?” That was the factor that truly concerned him.
“Not that we know of, sir.”
“Find out about the drone. I want to know where it is, who made it and how to get it.”
Because his competitors would know better than to buy a high tech toy like that and use it. Which meant there was someone else in the picture. An unknown. Samuel didn’t like unknowns.
