Chapter 37 #2
The death of his brother would definitely escalate Balan’s anger. If he’d been inside his house and died that day, Balan would want revenge, and he’d patiently wait for the right moment to bring all his targets together.
Jasper combed his fingers through his blond hair.
“His brother was living under an alias, but he didn’t cover his tracks as well.
They were originally born in Romania, and based on his brother’s different aliases, he stuck around the country but moved from time to time, which is probably the only reason Balan ever risked coming back to Romania for any period of time.
But honestly, if Kate hadn’t known Balan’s alias had been Alexander Rothus when she first reached out to him in twenty-sixteen, I doubt we would have been able to find him. ”
“How’d Balan convince you to come to Montreal?” He clearly found you while in hiding without a problem. “Why not just run and hide somewhere else?”
“He said I had to enter the competition, or he’d have my family killed. He also said he’d forever hunt me down if I didn’t show.” His voice was low, dull, a touch remorseful.
“And what’d he tell Kate?” But she already knew the answer, didn’t she? “He’d expose the truth, right? Let the world know what she did. I’m also betting she wanted back that three hundred million Balan transferred out of her account. Money she kept hidden from her husband, I assume.”
Jasper nodded, and Wyatt’s attention veered to the window as they began to slow down. He brought his hand to his ear as if listening to someone over comms.
“You all must have a plan, right?” No way would Kate show up in Montreal without a strategy in place, would she?
“How are you going to stop Balan? He didn’t want you talking to me because he wanted me putting the pieces together without help.
He doesn’t like cheating like he must’ve believed you cheated in tracking him down in Romania because you had Kate’s help. ”
Jasper tossed an angry hand in the air. “He’s been three steps ahead of us at every turn. It’s like he knows our moves before we do.”
God, could she relate. But she wasn’t about to sympathize with him. He’d used her, taken advantage of her. He was just as bad as Kate and Alexander, and it made her skin crawl to be sitting across from him.
“Because Balan had a long time to set this up,” Wyatt said as the car rolled to a stop. “Now, get out and act like we never had this conversation.” He pointed to the door.
Jasper lightly clutched his throat. “He’s going to kill me. Are you going to stop him?”
Wyatt cocked his head and echoed her own thoughts, “You think we should care about your life?”
Jasper fixed his attention on Natasha as he reached for the door handle. “I’m sorry.”
Not that she believed him, but she couldn’t help but respond, “Too bad you can’t apologize to all the people who died because of Kate and Alexander.” She shook her head. “Their families are the ones you owe an apology to.”
Jasper’s jaw tightened, and he pushed the door open. He swung his gaze over his shoulder. “I’m not going to win this competition. There’s this chick, Gwen, and she’s better than me.”
Natasha stuck her arm out to block Wyatt from leaping forward at Jasper’s use of the word chick about his daughter. “Was that part of the deal?” she asked him once Wyatt settled back into his seat. “Are you supposed to win?”
“He said if I couldn’t even win the competition, then there was no reason to keep me alive.
” His eyes cast down to the limo floor. “I’m assuming he wants some sort of rematch with me.
Maybe with Kate, too. Then probably kill us.
I, uh, was hoping to buy myself some time by winning this thing to come up with a plan to take him down. ”
“You could’ve started by telling us the truth,” Natasha said, her voice like a sharp blade cutting through the air.
“He said he’d kill me if I talked to you.
And now since you ditched the MI6 agents who’d been tailing me and you’re about to leave me alone out here, I’m guessing you knew that.
I’m bait, huh?” Jasper stepped outside but ducked his head back in, eyes straight on Natasha.
“My death will be on your conscience. You’ll have to live with that. ”
“As much as I hate you,” she began, “I’m not going to let you die. No, you belong in a prison cell.”
Jasper grunted. “Sure.”
Once the door slammed shut, Finn scrolled down the glass partition. “That was intense.”
Wyatt touched his ear. “This is One, Bravo Four, do you copy?” He paused to listen. “Roger that, Four.” He looked at Finn, then Natasha. “Liam’s on overwatch. He has two tangos following Jasper. One on foot. One in a car.”
“And if Balan’s hired guns do kill him?” There were no guarantees.
“You said so yourself that he didn’t want Jasper talking to you because he wanted you to solve the puzzle without help.
You’re part of his game. Chances are Balan already knows you’ve connected the dots,” Wyatt began, “and besides, he won’t murder Jasper when Jasper’s his smoking gun.
He wants the world to know the truth, and Jasper is part of that truth. ”
“How can you be so certain?” She gulped back her own doubts.
“As flimsy as this may sound, I’m going with my gut.” He released his gun and brought a fist beneath her chin. “And it looks like I need to ask Gwen to lose to Jasper to buy him a few more hours to live.”