Brice’s face went blank and Brooke felt terrible. The words actually left a bad taste in her mouth. She reached for her water and finished it off. Brooke knew Brice was only looking out for her and she loved him even more for it, but she also knew he’d never allow her to take any risks unless she insisted upon it and this was the best way to make that happen.
Brooke hated appearing to be ungrateful but Meeks was right; this was the only way they could end the nightmare once and for all. She had to do everything possible to get Perez caught with his hand in the million-dollar cookie jar, so to speak.
The heartbreak she saw in Brice’s eyes was more than she could handle. Brooke intertwined their hands and brought them to her heart. “I know you’re worried and I appreciate it, but I have to do this...for us. I’ll be fine.” She turned her attention to Meeks and the rest of his team. “I will be safe, right?”
“Absolutely,” Meeks promised. “We’ll control the meeting location with Perez and you’ll be perfectly safe.”
“How can you be sure he won’t have a weapon of some kind?” Brice’s jaw tightened.
“He won’t. The meeting will be at a restaurant inside Hobby airport,” Francine explained. “He won’t be able to get any type of weapon past the security.”
“We’ll have the restaurant packed with our people from the employees to the customers,” Meeks informed her.
“So we’re just going to give him thirty-five million dollars?” Brooke questioned with a deep frown, glancing at all the faces around the room and landing on Victoria. After all, it was her money; she should most certainly have a concern.
“Yes, but only for a short period of time,” Meeks replied.
“What does that mean?” Brice asked.
“Yes, what do you mean by ‘short period’?” Victoria echoed.
Meeks trained his eyes on Robert. “I’m going to let my esteemed colleague explain the details.”
Robert offered a quick nod and said, “I developed a time-release snake algorithm and embedded it into each bank account.” He gifted them with a proud smile.
“Allow me to interpret.” Farrah gave Robert a smile. “My husband seems to forget that not everyone finds his IT-geek speech as sexy as I do.”
“Farrah, please.” Francine rolled her eyes skyward.
“What my brilliant husband is saying is that he set up a program that will track the money. Think of it like a bug. When they transfer the money out of those accounts, we’ll know exactly where it’s going.”
“That’s what I said,” Robert mumbled.
“What if they try to pull out the cash?” Brooke couldn’t believe she was even asking such a ridiculous question. She just chalked it up to her head still being foggy from all the medicine.
“It’s not like you can just pull out millions of dollars in cash, especially in a short period of time. That would certainly draw a great deal of attention,” Robert explained.
“How can we be sure Perez is the one who’s actually getting the money?” Brice questioned.
“We can’t. Perez is too smart to have his name on any of these accounts, so I assume wherever he transfers the money to will be some type of shell company overseas.”
“Which is why we need to get Perez’s blackmail on tape,” Francine reminded Brooke.
Brooke turned to Victoria. “That’s a lot of money you could lose.” Brooke's pain was reminding her of its presence.
Victoria gave a nonchalant wave. “That’s my rainy day account.”
Farrah’s forehead creased. “Rainy day. What, you expecting a monsoon or something?”
Everyone laughed and Victoria shrugged. “You never know when you’ll need a little emergency cash.”
“A little,” Farrah murmured. Francine gave her sister the evil eye.
“No worries. After ninety-six hours, my algorithm will self-destruct, reversing all transactions,” Robert explained.
“I assume that means the money will revert back to my mother’s account,” Brice concluded.
“Correct,” Robert confirmed.
“Seems easy enough,” Brooke said.
“We should get moving. We have a lot to do still,” Meeks suggested.
“My sister and I will help you pack. Come on, Farrah.” Francine turned toward the bedroom.
“Packing? Where am I going?” Brooke asked, feeling confused.
“Do I look like a maid?” Farrah placed both hands on her hips. “I don’t pack my own things.”
“Excuse me.” Brooke waved her right hand in the air. “Why am I packing?”
Brice turned and faced Brooke. He cupped her bruised cheek. “You’re coming home with me, and before you say no, you’re still my wife and it’s my job to keep you safe. Please let me.”
Brooke could see the fear that clouded Brice’s handsome features and her heart raced as his words replayed in her head. She knew things were still up in the air between them but before she knew it, the truth was flying out of her mouth.
“There’s no place I’d rather be.” She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. In spite of everything she’d been through, her desire for Brice was beginning to overwhelm her. “I’ll go pack.”
Meeks pulled out his phone. “I’ll make sure everything’s set up at the house.”
Robert headed for the door. “I’m going to go clear a path to the back exit.” Farrah followed Robert out the door.
“Back exit?” Brice inquired, helping Brooke to her feet.
“Yes, we will drive you both over in our vehicles. I’ll have one of my men bring your car to the house.”
“Is that really necessary?” Brooke asked, feeling weak but safe in Brice’s arms.
“Yes. We want everything to seem normal in the event you’re being watched. We’ll place an agent in the room so to everyone that’s watching it will appear that you’re still staying here,” Meeks elaborated.
“That way, if they try to come after you again here at the hotel, we’ll catch them red-handed,” Francine added.
“Do you think they’ll try something like that again?” Victoria had concern written all over her face.
“No I don’t, but we need to be prepared for anything,” Meeks explained. “We’ll even have someone acting as you leave from here going to the office Monday morning.”
“We’re just covering all our bases. I doubt they’ll expect you to go, considering what they just put you through,” Francine advised. “Your only job this weekend is to get better...stronger.”
“No worries. I’ll make sure of it,” Brice promised, slipping his arm around Brooke’s waist.
“Your place is already like a fortress so we’ll just secure the streets,” Meeks stated.
Victoria collected her things. “I’m going to go now. I need to fill the rest of the family in on these new developments.”
“Victoria—” Brooke stepped out of Brice’s hold and reached for Victoria’s hand “—thank you. I can’t tell you how much your support—”
“Child, please.” Victoria kissed her on the cheek and turned to Brice. “Take care of her, son, or else.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Victoria walked out of the room. Brooke stepped back into Brice’s waiting arms. “What about the staff here?” Brice inquired.
“It’s been taken care of. Everyone thinks Brooke had a slight accident in her room. Only the manager and security team will know what’s really going on,” Meeks informed Brice as he placed a call.
“Can we trust them?”
“We better. They’re my team,” Francine stated matter-of-factly. “This hotel has been our client since they changed owners and remodeled.”
“I should go pack now,” Brooke said.
“I’ll help you.” Francine took Brooke’s hand and walked her back into the bedroom. Brooke was grateful for the assistance as her mind and body were still at odds.
* * *
Brice waited until Brooke crossed the threshold into the bedroom and Meeks finished his call before he asked, “You sure about this plan?”
“I’m sure this is the only way to catch Perez and stop him from hurting Brooke and your family ever again.”
“Do you know what it is that Perez has over Brooke?”
Meeks sighed. “Yes, I do. But before you ask, I can’t tell you. Brooke wants to be the one to share it with you. Just give her some space and a little time.”
“I’m trying, but this is so damn frustrating. Everyone seems to know what’s going on with my wife but me.”
“I know it is, but you two love each other. That’s pretty clear, so I’m sure you’ll be able to work everything out.”
“I hope so.”
Meeks’s phone rang. “Pardon me a second.”
Brice gave him a quick nod and walked out onto the balcony. He was determined to be there for Brooke and protect her, no matter what it cost him. In order to achieve that goal, Brice knew he had to bring his emotions under control. Of all the Kingsley men, Brice was the most rational and thoughtful in making all his decisions. He was the least likely to be ruled by his feelings. Too bad his heart wasn’t complying with his head.
He kept telling himself that, regardless of what might have happened in Brooke’s past, he could deal with it. He loved her and nothing would change that. However, Brice was still determined to find out the truth from Brooke.
“Excuse me, Brice,” Meeks called, stepping out onto the balcony. “We have a problem.”
Brice turned and met Meeks’s concerned gaze. “Another one?”
“After we determined there was no evidence to connect Perez to all the other crimes against your family, we placed one of our agents in his organization. My agent just informed me that Perez is making plans to leave the country...tonight, in about three hours.”
“Tonight? Without the money?”
Meeks shrugged. “He doesn’t have to be in town to collect his money, but we need him here if we’re going to get him on tape.”
“So what do we do?”
“We may have to move up our timeline,” Meeks replied, scratching his chin with his index finger.
“To when?” Brice’s brows snapped together.
“I’m not sure. My inside man is trying to get a more definitive answer on Perez’s plans, but Brooke may have to make her phone call and threat to Shannon sooner than we initially thought.”
“Dammit! I hate this.”
“I understand, trust me, but it’s the only way we can be sure to end this once and for all. We will keep her safe,” Meeks promised before walking back into the living room.
Brice pulled out his phone and called his brother Morgan, the second eldest of Victoria’s sons and the vice president of field operations.
“Brice, you good?” Morgan answered, sounding anxious.
“Not even a little bit. I assume Mother brought you up to speed on Perez.”
“Yep, just hung up with her, as a matter of fact. That son of a bitch has to pay. How’s Brooke doing?”
“She’s fine, scared...even though I think she’s trying to cover it up,” Brice speculated.
“Why didn’t she tell you someone was coming after her? You are her husband.”
“That’s a damn good question.”
Morgan huffed. “Y’all think I’m an ass for not wanting to be involved with all the drama relationships bring.”
Brice closed his eyes and shook his head. He was starting to regret making this phone call. “Relationships don’t have to be full of drama.”
“No, they don’t have to be, but in my experience they usually are.”
“Maybe it’s the women you pick. Can you say—”
“All right. ‘Thanks, pot,’ says the kettle,” Morgan replied, laughing.
“Fine. Look, I called for a reason.”
“What’s that?” Morgan rasped.
“Let me get A on the line first.” Brice put Morgan on hold and called Alexander.
“Brice, Mother filled me in. How’s Brooke?” Alexander answered.
“She’s...dealing with things. Hold on while I patch Morgan in.”
“Morgan?” Brice called out.
“Still here.” Brice conferenced Morgan into the call. “All right, Morgan, you there?”
“Yep,” he replied, sounding annoyed.
“Alexander?”
“Me too. What’s going on, Brice?”
“You both know we’re trying to set a trap for Perez. Get his blackmail on tape,” Brice started, explaining.
“Yes, we know,” Alexander replied.
“Well, we have a problem.”
“What type of problem?” Morgan asked.
“Perez is scheduled to leave the country tonight unless we find a way to stop it.”
“Me and a couple of the boys from the rig can pay him a visit. He can’t leave the country if he’s in the hospital,” Morgan suggested.
“We can’t get his confession, either, Morgan,” Alexander scolded his brother.
“As much as I’d love nothing better, Morgan, Alexander’s right. We have to find a legitimate reason to make him stay put,” Brice said.
“Whatever. I still think he needs some pain put into his life for all the trouble he’s caused our family,” Morgan declared definitively.
“Morgan, physical violence against Perez, no matter how much I’d love to give him a taste of the same medicine he dished out to both my wife and China, that’s not the answer,” Brice said.
“So what do you have in mind, Brice?” Morgan asked.
“We give him the opportunity to get back something he’s wanted for a long time.”
“You can’t be serious,” Morgan said, his voice rising.
“Are you sure about this?” Alexander questioned; his concern was coming through the phone line loud and clear.
“Absolutely! Perez is a businessman. We need to give him a reason to stay put. We’re going to give him the Carter.”