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KILL US? OH, KATE. Why did you say that? Knowing Kate, she probably said it because it was obvious he had murder on his mind.
This was the time to think logically. Reid knew who I was now, which was not good. He also knew that what had seemed like serendipity—a middleman company with good resources contacting them after their best sources were arrested—was nothing but a setup. Still, we put up such a good front, I’m positive the three men did think we were on the up-and-up.
Would this be my epitaph—She was almost able to pull off a sting? I saw the determination in Kate’s eyes and the fear in Kim’s. Clearly we were on the same wavelength, but something in Kate’s look gave me the courage to speak up. Maybe I could at least make him nervous. Taunt him. Attack his ego. Buy some time. Like Kate said, they planned to kill us anyway. Why not shake it up?
I tried very hard to keep any sign of trembling out of my voice. “Oh, Jonathan. I never figured you for anything like this. I thought you were just a pompous narcissist with a taste for living high, beautiful women and a modicum of actual talent in the advertising business. Of course, I knew you had other businesses while your poor partner dedicated his whole life to your partnership, even if he was an ass, but I never suspected you were a crook. And, for him to die the way he did. Just sitting at the desk he sat at for twenty years, while you became a secret powerhouse in laundering dirty drug money? No wonder you’re so wealthy.”
A slow, self-satisfied smile crossed his face. “Well, Cameron, since we have a few more minutes until this place clears out and they lock it up, I’ll play your game. It actually amuses me. You really had my associates fooled, you know. They thought you three were the real deal. I will admit it was a surprise to find out you were part of the charade.”
I felt like Kate’s thoughts were echoing in my head. I knew it was because she has always been the strongest, so most likely I wanted whatever she was thinking to be true. The words keep him talking repeated over and over in my mind. I was determined to do exactly that. Appeal to his ego. Make him feel we were overwhelmed by his power and cunning.
At five minutes to five the door to the conference room yawned opened.
“Okay,” Vito Laganga said. “A few more minutes and they’ll shut down the machinery. Takes them about ten minutes to clear out so I can lock up. Meanwhile, have fun with our guests.”
He walked over to Kate and gave her a smart rap on the side of her head. “Think you’re so smart, do you Sweetheart? Well, you’ve messed with the wrong group this time.”
Kate’s head fell forward and then snapped back when he grabbed a handful of her hair. “The—wrong—group!” he repeated. “I gotta go out there and make sure all of my workers clear out on time.”
He left, slamming the door behind him.
Less than fifteen minutes. All I could think about was how devastated Nathan would be for allowing Kim to get involved in this. And, Milt. Oh, my dear sweet Milt who was always concerned for my safety and comfort. Jonathan Reid couldn’t get away with killing the three of us. He just couldn’t. I had all kinds of great things ahead of me, Kate was going to get a movie deal and Kim had everything she ever dreamed about. I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I’m not religious, but at that moment I think I found God. At least, I prayed to him to let us get out of this.
Kim spoke in a shaky voice. “You are a very clever man, to have kept your other identity such a secret from those who knew you for years. Cami assumed you were taking out your anger on her because she converted so many of your accounts into her clients. I suspect losing is not something you can tolerate, even if it is in what now appears to be one of your minor business interests.”
“You’re damn right I don’t take well to losing. That stupid partner of mine refused to believe she could do it when she came back to town and opened her agency. Look what it got him.” He shot me a look filled with daggers. “You’re one smart cookie, Cameron Harsen. If you weren’t so honest, I could have used you in some of my other businesses. Even thought about it after Tyler let you go, but you wound up working for the prison system of all things. Not exactly something that was a good match for my business ventures.”
He threw back his head and gave a nasty laugh.
I said through clenched teeth, “Jonathan, I wouldn’t have worked for you if you were the last opportunity on earth. I didn’t like you back then, and in fact I’ve never liked you. You have the top hand now, but my greatest pleasure would have been to bring you down. Good God. Kenneth Monnigan, master conman, money launderer and crook. How many other identities do you have?”
Of course he didn’t answer me. I was just baiting him anyway, trying to buy some time, because we sure didn’t have much left.
Laganga came back into the room. When he opened the door, I noticed everything in the factory was quiet. No more whirring sound of machinery. Just silence.
“Okay, they’re all gone. I’m going to lock everything and then we can decide what to do with these three. We cool?”
I looked over at Mahood Vashti and Greg Clark. Vashti was pacing back and forth, anger all over his face. Greg Clark sat in his chair wringing his hands, head hung, shoulders hunched forward. His body language screamed that he hadn’t signed on for murder. Maybe if we could somehow get to him, make him afraid of what the repercussions would be if they were caught for killing us, just maybe we would have a chance.
Caution goes out the window when you know your time on earth is very limited. I summoned my most commanding voice, which is something men never expect from me since they often perceive me as a ditzy blonde. “Mr. Clark, do you have any idea what it’s like to be imprisoned for murder? All three of us have toured prisons, and trust me, if you don’t get the death penalty you might wish you did after serving a lot of years.”
I shifted my gaze to Jonathan Reid. “Oh, he makes you believe you’ll get away with it, but will you? Do you really think my friend Kim’s husband won’t go after his wife’s murderers with guns blazing as they used to say in the West? You obviously don’t know how high up he is in the Federal government, but you’ll find out soon. Are you ready to take that risk?”
Greg Clark’s face turned an ashen gray while a red tinge crept from Jonathan’s neck up to his forehead.
“Shut up!” he sputtered. “Just shut the Hell up. Greg, don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to save her own neck and her friends. We’ll handle it.”
But, I’d gotten to Clark. He stood and said, “Do what you want. I’m getting out of here. Money laundering and making a nice profit for doing it is one thing, but murder? No! I’m sorry, but I won’t be part of it.”
He started for the door.
Vito Laganga clamped one of his big paws on Clark’s shoulder and whirled him back into his chair. “The Hell you will walk out on this. You’re part of it whether you like it or not. We get busted, so do you and we can’t have you being a loose end. Mahood, hand me some of that fabric.”
Before we knew what happened, Laganga had tied Greg Clark to his chair, just like us.
“Looks like we have one more to get rid of,” he said.
Jonathan Reid went over to Clark and punched him in the face. “When you sign on with me, you sign on for whatever happens. We’ll miss you, but you’re easy to replace.”
Things were happening so fast, I didn’t know what to expect next. All I knew was the three of us were terrified and I was sure that wouldn’t last very long. Hard to be terrified when you’re dead.