Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
“I knew her name, so it wasn’t hard to find out.”
“I should have told you,” Kyle said quietly. “That was a mistake. I should have laid it all out for you the minute I knew we were serious, but I thought I could hide it. I thought you would never need to know how stupid and reckless I’d been, and then it was too late. By the time we knew she was alive, she had you.”
“As I’ve said before, that would have been a good time to send me a note. A carrier pigeon, perhaps. She might not be able to trace a pigeon.”
That actually got a chuckle out of him. “Yeah, I’m beginning to understand there might have been something more than logic behind that decision.”
She wasn’t sure what logic had to do with it. Kyle was a man who moved on instinct, and his first had been to push her away. “So you believe Julia’s after her father’s leverage. Do you have any idea what that would be? I’m going to assume given his connections he could prove some powerful people have done bad shit. My research puts him knowing most of the world’s best known CEOs.”
“Yes, but he did run in some influential circles when he was younger,” Drake said. “He’s spent most of his time at home the last few years. The most he’s done is take some golf trips with friends. He doesn’t…didn’t travel much anymore. I was surprised when he came to London with my mother.”
She felt for Drake. Or rather she understood his problems. He was still processing the loss of his father and the truth of his life. But she didn’t have the luxury of coddling him. “Adam, do you have a system I can use?”
Adam flipped open his laptop. “If you want to pull up the surveillance, I can do it for you.”
Within a few keystrokes Adam had the photos she needed up on the conference room screen, easily using the wireless connections built into the office.
“From what I’ve learned your father’s golf trips were usually covers for meetings with suspected Consortium members.” The picture showed what looked like a normal group of wealthy men indulging in a harmless hobby. The photos she’d pulled showed Don Radcliffe meeting with a group of men she’d identified as the CEOs of major energy companies.
“That’s from an exclusive country club outside of Hilton Head,” Drake said with a frown. “How did you get surveillance photos? They’re supposed to protect the privacy of their members.”
“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Big Tag said.
But MaeBe understood. “He’s not naïve. He’s still in shock.” She turned Drake’s way, a bit of sympathy welling up inside her. “I’m sorry, but there’s always a way around whatever security a site says they have. In this case, I connected with a black hat hacker who I suspect is actually a foreign intelligence operative. The country club scrubs their system, but the hacker picked it up in real time. I had some information they wanted, so we made a swap.”
Kyle’s spine had straightened, and he looked at her like she’d grown a whole extra head. “You did what?”
Ian held up a hand as though he could ward off the impending explosion. “She worked with Adam and Hutch and Chelsea. She was perfectly safe. I can assure you my sister-in-law knows how to deal with shady characters.”
Chelsea Weston had once been the world’s greatest information broker. When she’d wanted to investigate Julia’s shadowy world, she’d gone straight to Chelsea.
“Chelsea’s been out of the game for a decade. She’s a mom now.” Kyle seemed intent on arguing.
Charlotte leaned forward, the constantly amused expression on her face replaced with a stillness that MaeBe found disconcerting. “I assure you, nephew, we will never forget how to play this game. We played it from a young age and when we are old, we will still be the queens.”
Charlotte spoke perfect English with no hint of an accent, but she’d let her Russian accent flow with those words—a reminder of where she’d come from. She’d been dragged into her father’s world, into a world of mobsters and criminals, and she’d fought her way out with blood and sacrifice.
Kyle sat back, his eyes wide. “Okay, Aunt Charlotte. Now I get why everyone says they never worry about Uncle Ian. It’s always you they’re truly afraid of.”
Ian frowned, a genuine expression of shock. “I am very scary. See, this is what happens when you get married and your wife won’t let you beat the employees anymore. Or stab a couple of them. I’m telling you once you’ve murdered one for being an asshole, the others fall in line.”
She often thought Ian Taggart would have been an excellent pirate. It was kind of his perfect life. Living the life of a dude who got to stab people and sail the wild ocean. Scurvy might be a problem, but he wouldn’t care because he would be chasing booty all the time. And then he would find a lady pirate who stole his heart and probably his ship.