Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
V iper didn't know when he'd ever been this happy.
Sure, he'd had successful ops that had made him happy, ecstatic even. Flings that were memorable, but they all paled in comparison to the heady, intoxicating few days with Izzy.
They'd spent a lot of time in their room making love. She'd surprised him with her spontaneity. When she let down her guard and opened up, she was funny and entertaining, even a little wild. He loved that about her.
Then there was the way she'd just let go and embraced their time together. Viper felt privileged that he’d caught a rare glimpse of the real Izzy Beaumont, the part that nobody else saw. The part she kept hidden under her professional demeanor and her carefully curated social profile. This side of her, only her best friends and a few lucky lovers got to see.
They'd swum in the hotel pool and gone for long walks on the beach. They'd talked about their pasts and their childhoods, and he'd told her things he'd never told anyone, not even his buddies in the military.
"Don't you remember your parents at all?" she asked one afternoon after they'd skinny-dipped in the ocean and were drying off on a big towel before walking back to the hotel.
"Not really. After my mother died, I was sent to live with my grandparents, and when they died, I was put into foster care. My only memory is a hazy woman with dark hair singing me a lullaby, but that could also be something I dreamed up along the way."
She'd looked at him with such tenderness. "I'm sorry you had such a hard start in life."
He shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. I was fifteen when my grandfather died, and sixteen when I enlisted. So, I was only in foster care for ten months, and I spent most of it camping in the woods behind my new family's house." He grinned at her. "It made me a lot more resilient during SEAL training. I was used to living off the land, fending for myself."
Her eyes had welled with sympathy. "No child should have to live like that."
"I was a big fifteen-year-old. I could look after myself."
"I'm sure you could." She ran her hands down his arms, her fingertips tracing his biceps, triceps, and forearms. "But it's still not right."
"No, but that's life, right? We just have to make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in."
"Can't argue with you there." And she'd wriggled on top of him and kissed him until his head spun. They'd made love on the beach before walking back, hand in hand.
Was this what a real relationship was like?
He had nothing to base it on. His past relationships had been short-lived flings and one-night stands with women he knew from the local bar. With his schedule, he never knew when he'd be called up for an op or deployed into a war zone. Consequently, he'd never looked for anyone that he couldn't say goodbye to and not look back.
Until now.
But he wasn’t a goddamned fool. He knew this perfect idyll wouldn't last.
Izzy had to get back to work and he had to get back to guarding her. The question he was afraid to ask was: where did that leave their relationship?
Maybe it was best not to dwell on it.
Live in the moment. Wasn’t that what Izzy was doing?
He was used to living like that. During a mission, you had no choice but to live in the moment. When bullets were flying by and grenades were exploding around you, all you could think about was survival. Nothing else mattered. Any peripheral thought, any distraction could get you killed.
That's why he made sure he never had any.
He realized his mistake in letting his guard down when they were walking back into the hotel after a stroll around the moonlit gardens and a man in khaki combat pants and a black shirt stepped out of the bushes.
Viper saw him first, and shoved Izzy behind him. She gasped, as he drew his weapon. He'd stopped wearing his vest, but he never went anywhere without his Glock.
"Don't be alarmed," said the stranger. "I only want to talk."
"Who are you?" Viper leveled his pistol at the intruder.
"My name is Gert Henderson, CEO of GHMG Holdings."
"The mining conglomerate?" Izzy said, poking her head out from behind him.
"Yes, Miss Beaumont. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a few minutes of your time."
He was overly polite and spoke with a slight accent. German, maybe.
"Do you have any identification?" Viper didn't like this. He didn't care who this guy was, but you don't just appear out of nowhere asking to talk. That’s not how it worked. And how the hell did he know who Izzy was, anyway?
More importantly, how’d he know she was here?
"Sure." The man reached into his back pocket.
"Slowly," hissed Viper. Izzy had her hand on his back. He could hear her short, shallow breaths. His only thought was to keep her from harm.
The stranger handed over a German passport. Viper didn't drop his gun. "You take it," he said to Izzy.
She reached around him and glanced at the photograph. "It's him," she whispered. “Gert Henderson.”
"Are you alone?" Viper asked. He hadn't picked up any other movement, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
"Of course not," he said honestly. "This is Mexico and I'm not crazy. My yacht is anchored off the coast. We sailed up from Costa Rica to talk to Miss Beaumont."
"How did you know she was here?" Viper was seriously worried. They could be surrounded. Outgunned again. He knew one thing thought, they were taking Izzy over his dead body.
"I have my sources."
"Nobody knew we were here," whispered Izzy. There was fear in her voice.
"Shall we go and sit down and then I'll tell you how I found you," said the man.
Viper nodded. There'd be more people on the terrace. Less chance of a firefight. "After you."
They followed the stranger onto the pool terrace and sat down at one of the tables. The umbrellas had been taken down for the night and the stars twinkled unknowingly overhead.
Viper aimed his gun under the table. "Any suspicious moves and you risk losing a vital part of your anatomy."
The man nodded and put his hands on the table. "I told you, I'm here to talk."
"Why couldn't this have waited until I got back to D.C.?" Izzy asked.
"Because this is off the books, so to speak. I don't want my shareholders to know what we're discussing and I sure as hell don't want yours to either."
Viper frowned. Perhaps this wasn't a kidnap attempt, but he wasn't ready to rule anything out. "Where are your men?"
"On the beach. They're not a threat."
He felt some of the tension drain from his shoulders. "Okay, talk. How did you find us?"
"It wasn't that hard. I managed to get hold of your boyfriend's call records and traced the incoming call from this hotel two days after you were abducted. Robert Hampton-Barnes."
Izzy sat up straight. "Firstly, Robert isn't my boyfriend, and how did you get his call records? Isn't that illegal?"
"Like I said, I have my sources. I knew you'd been kidnapped in San Diego and figured you'd be holed up here somewhere until the heat died down."
Shit. If this guy had found them, the cartel could too.
Izzy slumped back in her chair. "I should report you to the authorities."
He shrugged. "Why don't you wait until you hear what I have to say?"
She sighed. "Okay, fine. Go ahead."
Viper kept the gun angled at the man's genitals. One false move and his balls were going to get blown to bits.
"As you know, my company owns many mines in Central America. We mostly operate gold mines, but iron ore accounts for 5% of our portfolio."
Could he have hired the mercs who'd kidnapped Izzy?
Izzy was listening, her arms folded in front of her. She might be in a strappy sundress, her hair wild and free down her back, but her face was all business.
"What do you want with me?"
"I'd like to make you an offer. We've done surveys in Mexico, and we've found a high likelihood of rutile and bauxite in the mountains of Montezuma. We'd like to extend the mine's capabilities into these base metals as well. As you know, rutile is used in the manufacture of..."
"Titanium," she cut in. "And bauxite in aluminum."
"Correct." He smiled at her. "You know your metals, Miss Beaumont."
She certainly did. And she was as cool as a cucumber. Viper felt a surge of pride, then swallowed it down and focused on the threat.
She was staring at the Henderson, frowning. "You want to buy me out?"
"Yes, to put it plainly. We have an excellent record in Central America. We employ workers from the local communities, we provide infrastructure and amenities, we respect the environment. We're not some power-hungry conglomerate that drills holes in the ground and leaves destruction in our wake."
"That's all very impressive, Mr. Henderson. I'm aware of your company's work ethic. It's one of your strongest selling points. But what makes you think I want to sell my share of Omega Enterprises?"
He smiled. "Come on, Miss Beaumont. We both know this isn't your game. Your father ran the company for twenty years, building it from the ground up. He ventured where no other company was willing to go. The risk was high, yet somehow, he made it work. Now others are following in his footsteps. The region has an abundance of raw materials, mostly squandered by corrupt officials and unscrupulous conglomerates. By rights, it should be one of the richest continents in the world, instead it's the poorest."
He had a point there.
Izzy listened to all this, her head tilted to the side.
"You're a businesswoman in your own right. Fashion is your thing. Not minerals. That's why you made Robert Hampton-Barnes CEO, a man who doesn't even have a controlling share of the company. Why don't you hand it over to someone whose interests align with yours?"
"How do you know what my interests are?" she said.
"I know you won't release your share of the company because you're worried about the communities the mine supports. I know you've refused offers from several conglomerates looking to expand into the area. I know the situation in Mexico is volatile and you're concerned that if you sell the mine, it will cause more instability. I know you're worried about your employees losing their jobs."
"How do you know all this?" she breathed.
Viper stiffened beside her. Good question. One he'd like to know too.
"I've been studying you, Miss Beaumont. From afar, of course. Don't worry, it's nothing nefarious. I'm not a stalker. My interest is purely business. I can see you're a good person, but that your interests lie elsewhere."
"So you thought you'd take the company off my hands, is that right? Do me a favor?"
"Exactly." He sat back and smiled at her. A long moment passed, after which he said, "I wanted to have this chat face to face, because after the attempt on your life, I thought you might be anxious to sell your stake."
Viper scowled. "That was your doing?"
His hand tightened on the gun.
Henderson put his hands in the air. "No, absolutely not. I must say, I'm very pleased you're all right. I take it this is your savior?" He nodded at Viper.
Izzy didn't reply.
"Why didn't you pick up the phone and call me? Why now? Here?"
Another excellent question.
"Because this is a frank conversation, Miss Beaumont. I'm being honest with you. I want the best for those communities too. I wanted to reassure you that my company will uphold what your father has created and go even further. It's hard to explain that in a boardroom filled with overzealous negotiators."
He had a point.
Viper looked at Izzy. She was pursing her lips like she did when she was contemplating something.
"Mr. Henderson, I don't know what you thought you'd achieve by ambushing me like this, but I've heard what you had to say. Now I'd appreciate it if you left."
He stood up. So did Viper.
"I understand. Sorry to intrude on your... vacation." His gaze shifted to the gun in Viper's hand. "But you understand why I wanted to talk to you before you got back to D.C.? Your CEO would shut me down before I even got going."
“He’d be justified in doing so. He’d lose everything if I sold out,” she said, defensively.
Henderson merely shrugged.
Izzy got to her feet. "I think you should go now."
He followed suit. “Will you at least think about it?"
"I will, but I’m not making any promises.”
“Fair enough.” Henderson nodded at Viper before walking away.
Viper watched him go. It was only when Henderson had disappeared in the direction of the beach that he let his hand drop.