Chapter Nine #5
“You’re wrong.” Ben held up a hand as if asking for time to make his point. “I will give you that it’s about money for his partners. They would love to tank the world economy and waltz in and buy up everything they can in the fire sale, but for Manny it’s different.”
“You believe Emmanual Huisman is a sociopath,” Lucy said quietly.
“I agree with him.” Ariel gave Ben a nod.
“I’ve looked over his records and I believe he was always a sociopath, though one who is excellent at mirroring the people around him.
He learned to hide his predilections. He’s well aware that his thoughts and actions are not considered right in civilized society.
I believe his fixation on Ian began when his father was murdered by Levi Green. ”
“If I could kill that motherfucker again, I would,” Dad announced.
Ariel ignored the outburst. “He’s fixated on Ian and all the people around him. He’s fixated on Ben, but in a different fashion.”
“I assure you he hates me every bit as much as he does Ian,” Ben announced, and there was some offense in his tone.
Like he needed to be the one Huisman hated most.
“I don’t know about that.” Ariel sounded almost sympathetic. “I would like to know more, but from what I can tell he’s had many chances to kill you.”
“Manny enjoys playing with his victims,” Ben insisted.
“Huisman is a violent misogynist,” Ariel continued. “I actually liken him far more to a cult leader mentality, but he’s also a bit of a misanthrope, which is why almost everyone around him is paid. You told me the girls had a violent reaction to seeing a picture of him.”
“They did.” Her mother had been deeply worried about the young women. “Sosa said he’s an active client in all sides of the business. She’s worked for him before and he’s beaten the shit out of her. I don’t like to think about what he does when he’s in the brothel portion of the house.”
Damon sighed. “Damn it. They’re kidnapping young women and training them to be assassins or sex workers? Here in Europe?”
Penny reached over and patted her husband’s hand. “They are, my love, which is why we’re going to have a new challenge.”
Damon’s head fell back and he cursed.
“Dad, Sami, and I will handle the heavy lifting,” Oliver explained. “Ariel and Mum will deal with Sosa and Gabby and the others when we figure out how many there are and what it’s going to take to free them.”
“Hey, I’m working on this, too,” Lucy added.
“I’ve got feelers out. I suspect between what the girls know and what I can discover, we can at the very least devise a plan to extract their friends.
Also, from what I’ve discerned, it’s not just assassins or rape victims. Don’t call them sex workers.
Sex workers choose their professions and provide something a lot of people need.
They’re rape victims. Slaves. Sosa was trained to be an assassin, but they are pretty much a one-stop criminal shop if you’re looking for young women. ”
Tim held up a hand. “I would think they would want some dudes, too. No offense to the many deadly women in this room, but men are still better at killing. All the stats prove that.”
“I would agree with you on a mass scale,” her father began, “but they’re not looking for some shooter.
They have their weapons of mass destruction.
I talked to Sosa on the plane. She admitted to a couple of her victims. All political or business enemies of the men who paid for her services.
Every one of them needed surgical precision. ”
“Which is why I question the ham-handedness of how she handled you,” Kala pointed out.
“Dad, I understand what you’re saying and I get why Mom wants to believe them, but blowing up your car in a public parking lot is not her usual MO.
If we believe her, she’s good with poisons.
Two of those assassinations she’s claiming were labeled natural deaths because she did such a good job.
So why change it up and cause a massive scene? ”
“Because the other thing she does is research on her targets,” her mom said quietly and her hand covered her dad’s. “I think she knew she might have a shot at getting Ian to listen to her. I think she wanted to get caught. She’s worried about one of her sisters, worried she won’t last much longer.”
“You think this is all a play to get us involved?” Lou asked.
It was a smart one since there was no way they could ignore the situation. “I’m trying to see the advantage to Huisman planting Sosa here. I saw her. She wasn’t playing. She’s terrified of him.”
“Or she’s an excellent actress,” Ben countered.
“It would be exactly like Manny to embed someone with the group that’s investigating him.
And you should understand he would know exactly how to slip her in.
He’s never tried to kill Mr. Taggart before.
He doesn’t need to. We haven’t really threatened him. ”
“I assure you the data we got in Nepal threatens him,” her father replied.
“I know Charlie thinks he can’t know we have it, but I suspect he knows and this is all chaos to distract us from what he’s hiding in one of these locations.
And before you tell me he’s likely looking for something, something either Sosa or Gabby could get from us, that’s why we moved.
I didn’t want them around sensitive material, and The Garden has far better security than I can provide since I don’t live in a club. ”
“We’ve got eyes on them at all times,” Damon promised.
“And if I’m uncomfortable having an obvious spy around?” Ben asked.
Her father simply shrugged. “Then you probably picked the wrong business to be in, Benjamin. We are working with you, but you should understand I’m in charge of this operation.
CSIS is more than welcome to conduct their own investigation if you don’t appreciate how I’m handling it.
You have the same intel. You can do this on your own. ”
Tim held up a hand. “I vote for sticking with the team. Like it’s nice here. I totally believe this British dude can handle two young women.”
Damon huffed. “Then you haven’t met some of the women I’ve dealt with.”
Ben’s jaw had tightened. “I have my assignment, Mr. Taggart. I’ll do my job and if you don’t want my advice, I can keep my mouth shut, but you should understand that I won’t allow the fact that you let Manny play on your emotions and your history to hurt me or mine.”
“Agreed.” The tension between her father and Ben was palpable.
Kala looked from one to the other. “Well, this is awkward.” She looked to Cooper. “Dude, thanks for being cool with my dad. This whole marriage thing would be a lot if you two were always on the verge of punching each other.”
“Did you seriously dude me?” But Cooper looked amused.
Kala was missing a couple of clues. “Then it’s good there’s no marriage thing. Mom, I think you should present a couple of the properties we’ve identified. It’s why we’re here. I’m with Damon. We should get our assignments and get some rest. Maybe we’ll be in better moods then.”
Her mother went back to discussing the properties they’d discovered and how they were going to split them up to investigate. There were sixteen sites they were particularly interested in, including one that Sosa claimed she remembered from her training days.
“You okay?” Oliver leaned over and whispered.
Not really. Her mother would tell her she needed to be patient and that she could handle some of his anger. Her mom would point out that she’d survived her father’s wrath and they’d had so many sweet years together.
But her father hadn’t been obsessed with Emmanuel Huisman. Her father would have given up revenge or even justice if it meant keeping her mom safe, and Ben had proven time and time again he would risk anything for a chance to take down his white whale.
Maybe it wasn’t an epic love story. Maybe it was a tragic one.
Maybe it was time to grow up and stop insisting that fairy tales were real.
Love wasn’t something she could force.
Her mother handed out assignments. Cooper and Kala would go with Sami. Lou and TJ would be with Lucy, and Ben and Kenzie would have Oliver as their European escort. They were going to Scotland where Huisman kept a small castle that might be where he stored his records.
“I think Tim should accompany Ben.” She wasn’t a masochist.
“Oh, I’ll come, too,” Tim said in his normal cheery fashion.
“I wouldn’t go without Tim,” Ben said. “Though I think we would be more comfortable with Lucy.”
Not what she’d meant. “I was thinking I would stay here. I would like to continue interviewing Sosa and Gabby and prep a possible mission to get their friends out.”
Ben suddenly decided she was worth looking at. “No.”
She felt her eyes widen. “What is that supposed to mean?”
His face was a gorgeous cold mask. “It means I agreed to work with you, not with MI6.”
“Cool,” Kala said. “You can come with me then.”
Ben didn’t even look back at her. “No.”
“I think I’ll take the assignment I was given,” Oliver interjected. “It’s been forever since I got to work with my cutest American cousin. Though that’s what we call each other. No blood between us, right, gorgeous?”
She rolled her eyes and got ready to give Oliver an earful, but Ben stood up.
“We could ditch the Canadian and work on our own,” Oliver suggested.
Ben gripped the back of his suit and hauled him up bodily.
It was violent. It was sexy in a way it should not be. In a way that was dangerous since the man had spent the last twenty-four hours ignoring her. So why the hell was he jealous?
“Hey,” Oliver began.
Ben punched him in the face and then let him drop. He turned to her father. “I’m not taking that asshole with me. He’ll be far too busy hitting on my sub to protect her. We’ll take Lucy with us. And Kenzie will be coming with me.”
Oliver turned and started to throw a punch, but Ben simply put out an arm and blocked it then swept out with one leg and put Oliver on the ground. He stood over him.
“Mine,” Ben said, his voice dark and deep. “You look at her again and I won’t hold back.”
It was exactly the kind of thing that should have her panting after him, but she couldn’t forget the coldness he’d wrapped himself in after taking all her warmth.
She was a prize, something he could toy with for a while before he decided if she was worth keeping around.
Or he was planning some revenge on her. She could see that, too.
Her father stood. “Well, on that note, I’ll take my wife and settle in. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning to talk logistics. Kenz, figure out what you want to do.”
“She’s coming with me,” Ben insisted, stepping back and letting Oliver up.
Oliver straightened his suit. “I don’t think this is going to work. I never realized Canadians were so humorless. Fine, then. I’ll go with Louisa. I’ve always appreciated a smart bird.”
“I will kill you,” TJ vowed.
“Or I could stay back and help out around The Garden,” Oliver offered. “The club is open for the younger set tonight since we’ll be out of my father’s hair in a day or two.”
Damon sighed and agreed. “I think Tag and I should talk anyway. We’ll head out to dinner and discuss the situation with his assassins. I’m afraid the younger set is a bit too much drama for me.”
Her father stood and held a hand out for her mother. “Ben, that was the smartest thing you’ve done since I met you. Ollie’s a menace. Kenzie, let me know where you think you can best benefit this team.”
Her mom hesitated. “Maybe we should talk, Kenzie and I.”
Lucy stood, holding her laptop to her chest. “I’ll take care of her. I’ll get her settled in and we can spend the evening watching Netflix and drinking some truly delicious wine. My mom brought it back from New Zealand. It’s completely ethically sourced.”
Yep, that was probably her night.
“She’s staying with me,” Ben declared. “I already had her things moved. Tim can use your spare room.”
Lucy frowned. “Uhm…”
Tim held up a hand. “I already found one of the privacy rooms. It’s cool. I don’t mind sleeping with a bunch of sex toys and a spectacular amount of lube. The bed’s nice.”
Oh, well that was lovely. He’d ignored her all day and then expected her to comply with his wishes?
Who the fuck did he think she was?
Kala stood, Cooper beside her as everyone seemed to understand the conference was over. “You got this, sis, or should I take out the trash? I told you I thought you needed to make yourself plain. Canada there can be thick headed.”
Kenzie stood as well. It was time to have a chat with her very confused crush.