WHILE JENNIFER AND Lisa were shopping with Blackwell, Gia and Carlo were preparing to take a video conference call from Stephen Rowe, who had just texted Gia on her TracFone that he’d be live on their computer in ten minutes.
“We need to chat,” he’d texted.
But he’d offered nothing more.
“This should be interesting,” Gia said as they took the stairs to the second floor and entered the media room.
“In fact, this could be it,” Carlo said. “We might get a date for when the Wenns will be out in public next.”
“Let’s hope so, because not only do I want this behind us, but we also have a warehouse waiting for Jones,” Gia said as she sat down in front of the computer with her brother. “And thank God for that—Mario came through again.”
She nodded at the computer. “Turn it on,” she said. “Let’s see what Rowe has to say. If this does have to do with the Wenns and it’s an event that’s happening too soon for us to pull off safely, we’ll decline and tell him that we need at least three days to plan. If he disagrees, we threaten to walk. If he demands that we do it, then we do walk. Because I’m also not going to prison for him, Carlo.”
“Good to hear.”
After Carlo turned on the iMac, opened a secure Web browser, and entered in a numeric code, it was only moments before Rowe’s face flickered upon the screen. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, his curly dark hair was damp and messy, his face was shiny with sweat, and he was far tanner than the last time they’d seen him.
Where is he? Gia wondered. On a boat? Somewhere in the tropics? Where has he disappeared to, and who delivered him to wherever he is now...?
As curious as she was about who had helped him, Gia already knew that she’d never find out—and frankly, despite her curiosity, at the end of the day, she really didn’t care. Rowe was so well connected, whomever had helped him in his time of need was likely someone who owed him one mother of a favor, and they were just powerful enough to pull this one off for him.
He flashed them a smile, which Gia thought was odd. Since when did this son of a bitch smile at them?
“Gia,” Rowe said. “Carlo.”
“Stephen,” they answered.
“I’ve received some news.”
“Can’t wait to hear it,” Gia said.
He swiped a finger beneath his nose and adjusted himself in his chair. And as he did, Gia watched him. The fingers on his right hand were trembling slightly.
From excitement?
“The Wenns will be attending an event this Saturday night at eight o’clock,” he said.
While Gia kept her features neutral, she had to stifle a sigh of relief. Saturday was four days away. This would give Carlo and her plenty of time to plan for it, and also to plan for taking out Jones.
“What’s the event?” Carlo asked.
Rowe spread his hands toward the screen. “It’s one of those big Kate Stone fundraisers,” he said with raised eyebrows. “Have you two heard of Kate?”
“I haven’t,” Carlo said.
Why is he being so animated? Gia thought. He never behaves like this...
“I think I have,” she said. “But I can’t place her face.”
“Let’s just say that it’s a beautiful face,” Rowe said. “Because Kate Stone is something to behold. As if that matters, though it’s true. Here’s the thing—I’m giving you a final chance to kill the Wenns. You blew it the last time, so here is your second and last chance, which I have to say is rather generous of me given the way you let me down with the Witherhouse event. This Saturday, you will end the Wenns’ lives just after you kill Janice Jones.”
“Our final chance?” Carlo said.
“That’s right, Carlo—your final chance. Because if you want my money, this ends on Saturday. I want this over with—as if that’s a fucking secret. And this Saturday, it’s winner takes all. Either you put an end to this then, or you’re off the payroll. So? My advice is that you make it happen.”
“Wait a minute,” Gia said. “Slow down. What are you talking about? This is the first time I’ve heard about you giving us a final chance. And what you’ve just presented to us amounts to nothing. What fundraiser are you talking about? I might have heard of her name, but who in the hell is Kate Stone?”
“Here’s what you need to know in a nutshell,” Rowe said. “Kate was once married to Michael Stone, a computer genius worth billions because he knew things about encryption software that made the business world pop a few hard-ons. He was murdered for reasons I won’t bore you with now—you can just Google that shit if you want the gory details. What matters when it comes to Kate is that she inherited his billions. Being the good person that she is—and likely because she was looking for a safe tax haven—she created the Stone Foundation, which has a major gala every year to support the less fortunate. Isn’t that sweet of her? This year’s soiree is this Saturday—and today I found out that the Wenns will be there.”
“You’re certain about that?” Gia asked.
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I weren’t certain, Gia. And before you ask where the foundation is, don’t bother. Figure it out for yourselves, because right now? I’m about to go snorkeling. But before I do that, I want to know where we stand when it comes to Janice.”
Gia told him exactly where they stood. “As you know, we’ve followed her for the past three days. In the wake of your news, Carlo and I will need to take her in the morning, because that’s the only time that she seems to be alone, with the exception of her early evening run. But we can’t take her then, can we? We’ll be focused on the Wenns at that point, so we’ll need to act upon her in the morning.”
“What do you plan to do to her?” Rowe asked.
“We’ll kill her,” Carlo said.
“Really, Carlo? You’ll kill her? What a surprise.”
Carlo said nothing, but Gia felt him burn next to her.
“Tell me, Carlo—did you even pass the sixth grade? Because for me, the fact that you plan to kill her is pretty fucking obvious.”
Before her brother went off the rails with an answer, Gia said, “We’ve leased a warehouse. We plan to ambush her when she’s on her walk to the gym, drive her to the warehouse, and put a bullet through her brain. Clean and simple.”
Rowe’s eyes flashed with rage when she said that. “That’s it?” he said. “Are you fucking kidding me? After what that bitch did to me, you really think that a quick death is what I’m seeking here? I already told you that when it comes to Jones—especially when it comes to her—that her death must be epic. Have you forgotten that? Did you think that I might have forgotten that so you could get off easily? Janice doesn’t deserve anything clean and simple, Gia,” Rowe said as his voice became increasingly shrill. “She deserves worse—far worse. She should be dismembered, for God’s sake.”
“Dismembered,” Gia said. “Are you serious?”
“Close,” he said. “I told you from the start that I wanted her death to be epic. In fact, I believe the exact terminology I used was, ‘New York Times epic’, because I want the manner of her death to reflect just how deeply she betrayed me. So, tell me. Beyond a mere bullet to the brain, how else could she die? How could you really make her suffer?”
“We could cut her throat,” Carlo said. “We could do it in such a way that it would take time for her to bleed out. If you want her to suffer, believe me, she’d suffer if we did that.”
“Not good enough,” Rowe said. “So, now I need you to listen to me, because I have a proposition for each of you.”
“What proposition?” Gia asked.
“I want to be the one who kills her.”
“You what?” Gia said.
“You heard me.”
She shook her head at him. “No way.”
“Why? You’ve already told me that you have a warehouse waiting for her. I’m assuming you chose it for the privacy it offers. Why can’t I be waiting inside when you arrive with her? Why can’t you just pull her out of the car and tie her to a chair so that I can be the one who kills her? Both of you know what she did to me. Out of all of them, her death is the one that means the most to me. We were lovers, for God’s sake. I gave her everything—money, a multi-million-dollar apartment, jewels, and a way of life she never could have imagined. But despite all of that, she still threw me under the bus when she chose to give that press conference, which was designed to destroy me. You’ve got to understand how that made me feel. I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days, and with your help, I’ve decided that I want to be the one who kills her. I want to be the one who cuts her throat.” He paused for a moment. “And I’m willing to pay you double for her if you can make that happen for me.”
Gia glanced at Carlo, who stared back at her.
“You’d pay us four million to make that happen?” Carlo said.
“I would.”
“On top of what you’re already paying us for the Wenns?”
“That’s right. And after Janice is dead, I’ll be out of New York so fast, no one will even know that I was there. And then you can have the Wenns for yourselves later that night without any interference from me. Their deaths mean plenty to me, but not nearly as much as Janice’s does. Hers is so personal to me, I can’t tell you. So, please, let me be the one who does it.”
“This never was part of our agreement, Stephen,” Gia said. “You can’t just change the rules at the last moment. It’s not how it works. It’s not how we work. And it’s not what we agreed upon.”
“Gia, how much of your plan have I changed?” he asked. “All I’m asking is for you to let me in that warehouse before you snatch her off the street—which you already planned to do—and then give me the pleasure of killing her. From what I understand, her death is going to take place where nobody will even witness it, so where is the risk? Listen to me for a moment. Before she dies, I want to be the one who looks her in the eyes and tells her to her face why this is happening to her—why I’m killing her. I want her to hear all of it from my lips—not yours. I’m offering you four million dollars to give me the pleasure of killing Janice myself, and I’m willing to transfer all of that money into your bank account right now if you’ll let me be the one who does it.”
When Carlo touched her arm, Gia knew they needed a moment alone together.
“Give us ten minutes to discuss this,” Gia said. “We’ll call you back.”
Rowe moved to respond, but before he could, she severed the connection—and he was gone.
* * *
“WE CAN’T FUCK AROUND here,” Gia said to her brother. “It’s too important. There will be too much happening that day. What do you think?”
“I don’t know, Gia—maybe that four million is better than two?”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I.”
“Carlo...”
He shrugged at her. “How about if we just take a breath and break this down?” he said. “Let’s look at the plusses and the minuses. We’ve got a warehouse. We both know that we can get Rowe inside without an issue. That said, none of that changes how easy or how difficult it’s going to be to get Jones inside our car—it’s either going to go well, or it isn’t, but none of that involves him. In fact, none of what he’s proposing changes anything except for the person who kills her. I get it—he wants to get in her face. He probably wants to slap that face a few times, too, but whatever—let him do it. Beyond the fact that we’re going to have to deal with him in person, I don’t see this as a game changer. In fact, if we can pressure him to transfer that money in the next hour, which will give us a chance to shift it to another bank account so he can’t rescind it, I see this as a smart business move. Tell me if I’m wrong.”
“That’s the thing,” she said. “I can’t. But let me ask you this—did you see anything off about him a moment ago?”
“At first, he seemed a bit jittery to me, but that’s probably because he wasn’t sure how we were going to respond to his request. He seemed nervous, but in retrospect, that now makes sense. He didn’t know how we’d react. What he proposed, after all, wasn’t what we’d initially agreed to.”
“I don’t know about this, Carlo. I’d prefer to finish this on our own.”
“It’s four million dollars, Gia.”
She looked at him for a moment, and then she shrugged.
And so it was.
“So, we do this?” she asked.
“I don’t see an issue—and that’s not me just going after the money. It’s because I don’t see how he can fuck this up for us. Think about what he wants for a minute. We put him in the warehouse, we deliver Jones to him, he has his hissy fit about how much she deceived and betrayed him, and then he kills her. When that’s over with, the dude can get on a plane, get out of New York, and rest easy for the rest of his life.”
She sat on that for a moment, turning everything that could go wrong in her mind, and then relented. “Fine,” she said. “Call him back.”
When they did, they sealed the deal.
“We’ll be in touch on Thursday,” Gia said. “We’ll give you all of the specifics then on where and when you will meet us on Saturday. Come alone. And come with a fresh set of clothes. Because, if you’re going to slice her throat, there’s a good chance that you might hit an artery. If that happens, expect to be covered in her blood. Since that’s a distinct possibility, we can’t have you leaving the warehouse looking as if you just murdered someone. The warehouse has a bathroom and a large sink. And you’ll use it if you need to. Are we agreed upon that?”
“We are. And thank you, Gia. Thank you, Carlo.”
“Just transfer the money, Stephen. Because we will not go through with this if it isn’t in our account within the next hour.”
“I’m on it.”
Later, when they checked their account, the money was there.