Chapter 26 #2
She lifted her gaze, nodding only once. Seeing the hurt in her eyes made me want to kick myself. “She was coming to warn me that her father had made a deal with Mikhail.”
“Tawny?” I asked.
Her lower lip was quivering. “She sent an email and said there was something I needed to know. She figured out we were close. She… She was afraid. She was followed after leaving the club. She also talked to Patrick about getting the night off because her father had insisted on the date. My guess is Patrick knew all about it, which was why he convinced her using me as a replacement would be okay.”
“Fucking bastard,” I hissed and moved behind the couch, reading over her shoulder. Whatever the reason, Patrick had either been ordered to kill her or had gotten her killed. “She said you were in danger. Tawny was a brave girl, Saige. She wanted to protect you to the end.”
“Yes, she did. If she was being followed, she wouldn’t come to my apartment. If she didn’t have her phone, she’d go home. The time stamp on the email. Almost one in the morning. And she didn’t sign off but hit send.”
“When someone broke into her apartment,” I finished.
“I don’t think Patrick killed her. She used to tell me he looked out for her. He used to walk her to the subway to make certain she got on safely.”
Interesting.
“We have a hit,” Jeremiah called from where he was sitting with the computer system he’d brought with him.
“It took a little while, but I tracked Ms. Gaines through her employment records, including her emergency contact. In addition, the yacht Lady Isabella is owned by a Russian shell corporation. That took a long time to discover. Someone wanted to ensure the company remained in the shadows.”
“Who is Tawny’s father?”
“Anton Pushkin.”
Kirill choked. “Russian oligarch. He owns about a third of Manhattan. He’s a diamond mogul. He’s had trouble getting them through the ports because of what else he’s bringing in with them. Cocaine.”
The room grew quiet. If Mikhail had formed an alliance through Anton with the Armenians, they could easily control New York.
“I can tell you have a plan,” Kirill said after the information sank in.
“One is forming. We simply need to tick off the pieces one at a time. Starting with Patrick. But the rest could take time.” I glanced from Kirill to Dimitri.
“Patience is a virtue, gentlemen,” Saige said. “While you’re handling the dirty work, I’ll prepare some documentation to share with your new investors. And don’t worry. They will be deals they can’t ignore or walk away from.”
The woman could drive me crazy, but every time she opened her mouth and spouted off about business, she was snagging me with her hook.
Pretty soon it would be hook, line, and sinker.
* * *
Sean had been noticeably calm when we’d walked in, sharing news of what we suspected about Patrick. This wasn’t meant to be a fight with our ally. In fact, we were prepared to allow him to handle Patrick as he saw fit. After all, the man had worked with the McCarthy family for two decades.
But as they said, every man had a price. I honestly didn’t give a shit what Patrick’s was.
“You’d better be certain about this,” Sean said. “Patrick is a good man.”
“Who betrayed you,” I said quietly as I peered over the table.
“You have no solid proof. The girl could be lying.”
I twirled the necklace on the conference room table in front of me. “Alright. To what end?”
Sean hissed. “Do you know what this means? Patrick knew everything about my company.”
“It means you’ll need to reorganize how you handle business,” Kirill offered.
“And you clean house,” Dimitri added. “In your effort to become more legitimate, you oust anyone with any bloodthirsty ties and make a big deal out of doing so. You’ll learn who you can trust and who you can’t. That will make for more peaceful nights.”
Sean’s half laugh was understandable. “Your goddamn brother had better be found. He’s becoming a pain in my ass.”
“Answer me this. That kid I beat to death the other night. Did you see him stealing from you?”
He caught on quickly to what I was suggesting. “No, Patrick told me about the situation.”
“I was lured to your club as was my financial analyst.”
“Why?”
“That’s what we’re going to ask Patrick.”
The knock on the door indicated our guest of honor had arrived.
Patrick stuck his head in, obviously displeased at seeing the four of us. “Sit down, Patrick,” I told him.
He closed the door behind him and did as ordered.
“What’s going on?”
I continued twirling the necklace, which he caught sight of almost instantly. “You hire all the fighters who aren’t being taught a lesson. Correct?”
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“That kid from the other night. The one who stole from the company. What exactly did he do?”
As anticipated, he looked toward his boss.
“I’m curious myself, Patrick. You told me he stole from us,” Sean interjected.
“He did. I mean that’s what I was told.” Patrick was trying to play it cool, but he knew he’d been discovered.
“You were told. By whom?” Sean’s expression hardened.
“What about this guy? Did you hire him?” I pushed my phone across the table. There was no doubt he was looking at a dead man.
“What is going on?” Patrick was starting to sweat just enough. It wasn’t often that two crime syndicates gathered together to confront someone on their misgivings.
“This man tried to kidnap and kill the very woman you pushed to have work here the night of the fight. From what I would guess, Tawny wasn’t certain Saige would work out with the fights, but somehow, the subject came up.
Likely that she needed to replace her shift.
You knew she only had one real friend, Saige Mitchell. Isn’t that right?”
Patrick sat back in his seat, deciding to shut down.
“You bastard,” Sean hissed.
“This necklace was on the man you hired. It was found at Tawny’s apartment.” I tossed it in his direction.
He bristled when I did.
“Let’s cut to the chase. You were double dealing your boss, working with a man who promised you a larger piece of the pie.
All you had to do was to set certain pieces in motion.
First with having Saige and me in the same place at the same time.
Second, unlocking the door to the basement so Mikhail’s men could waltz inside.
And you also hired Liam Murphy, the dead man in that picture and the one who wore the necklace to kill Tawny and anyone who got in his way.
Unfortunately, that was Ms. Mitchell. But he didn’t anticipate she’d beat him at his own game. Now, he’s dead. By my hands.”
He didn’t say anything right away.
So I did the unthinkable. I’d pulled in a favor with the medical examiner, obtaining a picture of Tawny. With what Saige had mentioned about how Patrick had protected her, I’d played a card and could instantly tell I was right.
Leaning forward, I snapped, “Look at her, Patrick. Take a good long look. Do you know what happened?”
“Stop,” he hissed.
“She was pushed off the roof of her building. Do you know what happens to a body when dropped from that height? Every bone in her body was crushed.”
“Goddamn it!” he exclaimed, smashing his fist on the table.
“I didn’t hire him to kill Tawny. I wouldn’t do that.
I adored Tawny. I loved her, for God’s sake.
I wasn’t good enough for her. I tried to warn her.
Her goddamn father planned her wedding. To that fucking slimebag Armenian.
I tried to talk to her, but she didn’t want to hear it.
She got away before I could stop her. I couldn’t leave the goddamn club. Or I would have gone after her.”
I stared at him for a few minutes before exhaling, pulling my phone away. “So you admit you’re working for Mikhail Chertov.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Then who?” Dimitri demanded.
Patrick didn’t want to talk. Sean leaned over. “If you tell us the truth, I won’t make you suffer and I’ll ensure your sister is well taken care of.”
This was the part of business that in truth I no longer enjoyed. I’d been so damn angry after being forced into the family that killing people hadn’t fazed me. But this was different. This was personal.
However, loyalty meant everything.
“Vardan Zargarian.”
I glanced at Sean who was stricken by hearing of the man’s betrayal. We had no intention of sticking around to the end.
“I’ll be in contact, Sean, but as of now, you’ll need to find another fighter. I’m retiring.”
And why? Because I was no longer that man.
I’d found something to ease my rage and my hunger.
Saige.