Love and Let Die (32 page)

Thank god that got everyone quiet.

Grace picked up one of the pictures as she sat down at the conference table. “This is Russia. I thought he was supposed to be in India.”

“Yes, I believe that’s what Charlotte said. Charlie wants me to think he’s in India, and Nelson obviously wants me to head to Russia.” That was a problem for him. He just needed to figure out why it was a problem. He could go one of two ways.

Eve studied one of the pictures. “He’s relaxed. He isn’t worried or tense. Do you see the slump of his shoulders?”

Yes, the fucker seemed to be having a lovely time plotting with the Russian mobster. “Yes. I see that.”

“Denisovitch, the first one, Charlotte’s dad, he was the Russian Nelson set up as the terrorist out to buy the uranium from the Irish mission,” Adam explained. It had almost cost Liam his life, and it had certainly cost him his brother. “Or he was at least working with Denisovitch in order to make the threat credible. Did he assassinate his partner so he wouldn’t have to share the money? Was Mikhail in on it?”

Ian shook his head. “I don’t think so. From all the intelligence I’ve gathered over the years, Mikhail was deeply loyal to his brother. If he’s in bed with Nelson, it’s for one of two reasons. One. He doesn’t know that Nelson was the assassin who killed his brother. He believes Nelson’s story, which is very likely that Charlotte killed her own father and stole his money. Two. My intelligence is wrong and all three are in on it together.”

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong.

They all started talking at once again. It gave Ian a headache. He looked out the window that showed the office. Grace hadn’t drawn the blinds up because she needed to be able to see if someone walked into the lobby, but it also gave Ian a great view of the accounting office. Phoebe had left her blinds open, too, and there sat Charlotte with her strawberry hair flowing down her back and her eyes on Phoebe. Chelsea was glum beside her sister, her eyes on the ground. He’d expected that Phoebe would be doing what she always did, focusing on her computer and nothing else, but she was talking. Animatedly. She was smiling and gesturing around.

She reached up and pulled down a bobblehead. He’d noticed she kept a collection of bobbleheads in her office on a shelf. Harry Potter bobbleheads.

Charlie turned, her face a mask of horror as she looked out the window. Their eyes caught, and she sent him the same pleading look she used when her ass was too sore to take another single slap.

He’d thought he was punishing Charlie with silence. No. She was going to get a whole afternoon of Harry Potter talk.

Ian couldn’t help it. He let his head fall back, and he laughed. It was perfect. It was beyond any punishment he could have come up with.

Charlie put a hand on the window, her lips curling into a sad little smile before she turned back and listened to her lecture.

What the hell was he going to do with her? Ask her if she’d slept with the men she claimed to be her worst enemies? The man who was his worst enemy?

Or realize that it didn’t matter. That she could have slept with a thousand men and he would still fucking want her.

He could take her. He could make her submit. He could make sure she never strayed or did another damn criminal thing again. He would keep her barefoot and so fucking pregnant that she couldn’t even think about running from him or building another criminal enterprise.

God, he might be going insane. He needed to think, but there never seemed to be the time. He needed advice.

“Eve, what do you think about Charlie? You spent time with her in Florida. You’ve been watching her since she’s been here.”

All eyes went to Eve. “I think she’s telling you the truth. I think she loves you and she’s been working to get back to you. If you want to know what I think about Zhukov…”

He shook his head, interrupting her. He didn’t want to hear that shit. He needed to make those decisions on his own. “Don’t give me personal stuff. Tell me if I can trust her when it comes to giving me intelligence on Nelson.”

“Yes,” Eve replied. “I think she’s trying to be honest, at least with you and the people you consider family. She’s looking for a home. She was willing to die in order to save Alex, and it wasn’t because she loved Alex. She wanted to prove herself to you. I trust her with my life.”

“Sean?” He trusted Eve’s opinion, but he trusted Sean’s intuition.

Sean sighed. “If she only wanted to cause chaos, why not just show up?”

“Because I would have shot her.”

“No, my brother, you wouldn’t have. You would be in the same damn position,” Sean said, his voice holding a nauseating sympathy.

Ian held up a hand. “All right then. We have some decisions to make. I didn’t want to make them without talking to the whole team because we’re gambling here.”

“You think Nelson wants us to believe he’s staying in Russia,” Jake said. “He’s played it this way before. He wanted us to go to England. I say we don’t play into the fucker’s hands. He wants us in Russia. We go to India.”

Adam pointed to the picture. “He looks like he’s got a tan. He sure as fuck didn’t get it in Saint Petersburg. Let’s go to the beach.”

“You’re not going to the beach, mate.” Simon sat back in his chair, an almost predatory look in his eyes. Yeah, sometimes he reminded Ian why he’d hired the Brit. “I’m going. How am I going to explain the idiot? Oh, I know he’ll fit in there better than I will, but we don’t exactly look like gay lovers.”

Jesse’s eyes went wide. “Whoa. That was not part of my contract.”

Simon was overthinking this thing. “Don’t worry about cover yet. Let’s get boots on the ground and figure out what we need. Just grab some beachwear and your kits.”

“How much time do I have?” Simon asked.

“We leave as soon as the MI6 boys can get the private jet fueled. It’s all I can give you. I need eyes on the ground there. Adam, I’m going to need paperwork and visas.”

Adam nodded. “I keep a spare set for every one of us in case of emergency.”

“I’m going to call some of my contacts at the Agency and see if I can find out if they have anything on Denisovitch.” He would have to talk to Ten again to see if he was holding out on him. The Agency usually didn’t give up information until it was asked for.

Alex looked over at his bride. “Hey, baby, what do you say we take that honeymoon somewhere a little colder than Hawaii?”

Sometimes Alex could read his mind. “Damn, man, I’m not asking you to do that.”

“But you would feel better if I went to Russia and got us some surveillance on Charlotte’s uncle. I don’t like the fact that your worst enemy is potentially conspiring with hers. It could mean bad shit for two people I care about,” Alex replied.

“And I’ve always wanted to see the Amber Room.” Eve smiled steadily. “I’ve heard they have beautiful churches as well.”

“You need visas, too.” Was he really going to let them go to Russia? Alex was a brilliant agent, but he’d worked in the FBI, not the CIA. “No. This is stupid. You don’t speak Russian.”

Alex shrugged. “We don’t need to. We’re tourists.”

Eve smoothed back her hair. “My grandfather was from Russia. I’ve always wanted to see the motherland.”

“I have a friend at the consulate,” Adam said.

Jake slipped a low five. “Magda. Yeah, she was a good friend.”

Adam’s brow furrowed. “Don’t ever let Serena know.”

“You’re afraid your wife would be pissed about a Russian hookup?” Simon asked.

Jake groaned. “No. Magda was in good with a Ukrainian syndicate. They’re in direct competition with Denisovitch. She’ll help us fuck with them. Do you know what Serena would do if she found out we know real Russian mobsters? She would never stop asking questions. She would want us to take her to the Ukraine and meet with them. Can you see that meeting?”

Adam went a little green. “I have nightmares about it.”

“Are you sure you want to do this? We could just stay out of his business.” Grace spoke for the first time. Her hands were in her lap, tightening around each other.

He reached out to his sister-in-law because Sean wasn’t here. It was something he wouldn’t have even thought about doing before, but Grace was his family. He was going soft. “Grace, he won’t let it lie. Those pictures are proof. He wants us to see him. He’s got something in mind. We have to figure it out.”

“Little one, Ian’s right,” Sean said, his voice low and sweet toward his wife. “He won’t let this go. We’ve hurt him too much. He can’t let up and neither can we. This is a game only one group can win. We have to make sure we take him out.”

“I want to do something,” Jake said.

“Take care of your wife.” He wasn’t about to put Jake in the field when Serena was pregnant. Adam was safe enough behind his computer. He could still do his job.

“You can’t keep me out of the field forever,” Jake shot back. “Serena knew what she was getting into when she married me. She knew what my job was.”

Ian held out a hand. He couldn’t stand the thought of that baby Serena was carrying being down a dad. “Just let me get used to it, man. I’ve got what I need for now. If something else comes up, I’ll send you in the line of fire, okay?”

“All right. I just want to take this fucker down, you know.”

“I want him dead more than anything.” His eyes trailed toward Charlie’s frame. Phoebe was still talking and she had a Hermione doll in her hand. Maybe he didn’t want Nelson dead more than absolutely anything.

There was something he wanted so much more. He just wasn’t sure he should have it.

“So we’re all good?” Alex asked, getting to his feet. “Because I have some packing to do. And a camera to buy. I’m going to expense that shit.”

“He’s had his eye on a telephoto lens,” Eve said.

So it would be an expensive op. He was willing to pay just about anything if he could get rid of the threat. If he could get rid of both Nelson and Denisovitch, he could figure out what he really wanted. He could figure out how to deal with Charlie. He could decide if he could really forgive her.

Liam walked into the room, his eyes a little wild. Something had happened and it didn’t look good. “Adam, I need your help.”

Ian got to his feet. “What happened?”

Liam’s hands were shaking. “There was an accident. Avery’s car. It’s very bad.”

Ian felt his stomach twist. His day wasn’t done. Not even close.

* * * *

Eli Nelson looked through the binoculars. Kashmir Kamdar was on his boat, anchored in a particularly beautiful section of Goa. His own small island nation was roughly twenty miles to the west, but King Kash, as they called him in the tabloids, didn’t have to be in his kingdom to hold court. He seemed to be on a perpetual vacation.

Three buxom blondes in barely there bikinis were frolicking on the starboard side of the ridiculous yacht.

He hated the little fucker. He hadn’t done a damn thing to deserve his wealth except have the very good fortune to be born well. At least Taggart had made his way in the world. Taggart had been past dirt poor before.

He wondered if Taggart knew why his father had left him behind. He’d done a study of Taggart a long time before. He wondered if Taggart knew his father had walked away and started a whole other family after he’d finally gotten off the drugs. It was a fleeting thought. He didn’t really care, but it was interesting given his current surveillance. King Kash had everything handed to him while Taggart had scrapped and fought to put food in his mewling brother’s mouth. Taggart had two more brothers he didn’t even know existed. Apparently the Taggart DNA ran true. Despite the fact that their father was a pussy retail clerk, the twin brothers Ian didn’t know about were more like him than their father. Both had joined the Navy because their papa couldn’t pay for college and both were up for BUD/S training this year. Nelson had thought seriously about trying to recruit those two. It would be so much fun to have a couple of Taggarts on his side.

If only Tag had proven to be a bit more morally flexible, Nelson would have introduced him to his friends. Tag would have been an unbelievably effective agent if he hadn’t had that morality. He was certain it was brought on by Tag’s family.

It was better to be alone.

Not that Kash seemed to believe that. The young king seemed to think he should never be alone. The fucker was always shoving his dick into some blonde.

When he wasn’t funding research Nelson’s bosses wanted quashed.

Kash passed a glass of wine to his latest Swedish supermodel and then turned his face up to the sun. It was something he did often. The idiot turned his face up, his arms going out as though he was embracing the whole world.

When Nelson got the go-ahead, he would put a bullet straight through the fucker’s chest.

The door to the cabin opened and one of Kash’s many servants brought him a phone on a silver platter. The man was dressed in a tux and tails and bowed to the master of the boat.

God, he couldn’t wait to kill him. Nelson had a plan in place. Kamdar was such an over-privileged asshole. But he was also an asshole who had information Nelson needed. He touched the earpiece in his right ear. Mostly his surveillance had consisted of listening to the king fuck a long string of blondes. The man had stamina.

“Hello?”

Nelson’s whole body tightened. When the king of Loa Mali spoke English, it meant he was talking to one of his scientists.

There was a long pause on the line, and Nelson cursed the fact that he’d only been able to bug the boat and not the king’s phone. Kash was a paranoid bastard who switched his cell phones on a weekly basis. And he kept three different phones for different types of people. One for his hookups. One for his family.

And one for the people he kept on his island, paying them handsomely for what he merely called “research” in his bookkeeping accounts.

Nelson’s bosses were interested in that research.

Through the binoculars, he saw Kash’s smile go wide. “Are you serious?”

Another long pause and Nelson’s whole body went tight with frustration. God, he needed to get more than one man in Kash’s household. The only one he’d managed to blackmail spent almost all his time in the garage of the boat, and there was no reason for him to be close to the king except when he piloted him to shore. Every single person who was really close to the king, down to the dude who probably wiped his ass, were Loa Malian. He hadn’t been able to bribe a one of them because Kash, like his father and his father’s father, spread the fucking wealth around. First it had been about the pearl trade and the rich minerals found on the small island that was home to roughly 40,000 inhabitants. Then the fuckers found oil in their territorial waters and the Kamdars shared the wealth with the citizenry, ensuring that things like democracy and forward progress had no place on their little island.