Chapter 26
Tomás
Took them a few hours to come and retrieve me. I couldn’t get loose without sawing down the palm tree I was chained to, so I passed the time hoping Aaron and Juniper will forgive me. I’m not sure I would forgive me.
And also, by trying to decide how I’m going to find them again and get us all out of this mess. Zasha and Shawn are very likely the men we were chasing, only they got to us first.
How?
We told no one. The cops never discovered the link between Juniper and Nathan’s murder.
All they could know is she knew Riley and maybe that she is horribly curious about men’s cocks. Was that enough to get us grabbed?
They have other information, somehow. It could have been that hacker Aaron employed, or they might have bugged our room, or the table we sat at during the pool event. Or our car.
By the time one of Karsten’s men arrives and introduces himself, I am certain we were bugged, and that we were careless. These rich men have resources. Throw some money about to get some high-tech equipment? Easy. Or they might have other ways, other resources.
“Hi there. Got yourself in a bit of trouble, mate?” The moonlight shines off this man’s short dark hair, off the key in his hand as he goes to unlock the cuffs at my back.
“There ya go. Karsten said you’d be glad to come with me.
He wants a meeting. And he said if you aren’t glad, to say there is an incentive you will love. ”
I stand up then rub my sore wrists as I assess this man with the easy-going attitude, who thinks this is nothing out of the ordinary.
“This way to the car.” Then he turns his back on me and heads off under the palm-trees rustling against the pale gray sky.
He. Turns. His back on me.
Crickets are cricketing. Bats are flitting about. The waves are still tumbling in behind me, murmuring to the sand. And I’m being awfully poetical and slow.
I haven’t got a weapon to shoot this guy in the ass with, so I follow him.
“This had better be good.” Because I am very inclined to do damage to somebody after this night. And that Karsten was told where I was left? He’s almost posted a guilty sign on his head.
It’s a short drive to the Dragon Resort, where Karsten is staying with most CNC Fraternity members.
Where we should’ve stayed, perhaps. I trot up the stairs and through the quiet three AM foyer to the lifts.
Casual guy and I go up to the ninth floor, where I follow him yet again, along to Room 901, which is a penthouse, of course.
It has its own pool outside under a pergola.
Karsten, however, is sitting on his exquisite black-and-gold sofa, with a glass of champagne and some suspicious traces of powder on the glass plate beside his goblet.
“Sit, Tomás, I have things to tell you and ask you.”
I restrain myself from punching him even though his guards are outside the door, plus there’s one standing under the stars, beside that pool. “You knew what was going to happen?” I don’t sit down. Not yet.
“No, not really. Wait. Wait.”
I rearrange my angry face, unclench my fist, dust some sand from my shorts and onto his precious rug. Then I go to the glass sliding doors and bring them across to block out the sound of the waves and reduce the chance of anyone hearing.
“Are we bugged?” I look around. As if I would trust him, but I must.
“No, we are not.”
“But our room was.” I’m certain by now.
“Tomás, you might think I am the mover and shaker behind this, but I am certainly not, and this is why I asked you here. Sit. Let me tell you more about the two men who took Aaron and your friend, Juniper Skye.”
This time I accept and sit opposite him.
“Champagne?”
Once, I would have said yes, even if I was on a mission. “No. Talk.”
He sighs. “Zasha Morosova and Fionn Shaughnessy are very bad men.”
“What? Wait.” I hold up a hand. “Fionn Shaughnessy? Is that Shawn?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Fuck.” I rock back then forward. “The bastard. No wonder we didn’t know him.”
“You found something out? Maybe that’s why they acted. I’m one of the few men who have seen…” He frowns. “Seen what they do.”
“To women?”
“Yes.”
“Ones they just grab off the street? Like Juniper’s friend Riley.”
“Sometimes off the street. Sometimes bought. It depended on the country. Yes, they’ve done it many times, but Riley was possibly the first.”
I puff out my cheeks. “But no police record, anywhere?”
“Perhaps in Russia or Bulgaria? Zasha has an opaque past. I know more about you than him.”
I pop up an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Yes. You. That knowledge is partly why I called for this little meeting. I want you to do something for me. Hear me out. I know you have questions, and I will answer them. I know you were in the FAES in Venezuela, a faero you called yourselves?”
I don’t answer. I’d rather let him run on and see if he really knows me.
“And you left them dishonored? Killed a few and ran. And maybe you had a special name there before you vanished and reappeared at a fraternity party with Aaron.”
“What name would that be?” I really want that champagne.
“El Loco. The Madman. Because you went crazy and were known for coming out of nowhere and ambushing your former compadres.”
He sits back and waits, sips his champagne. I pour myself a glass, take a gulp.
“Did Aaron know? I think he must have.”
I shrug. “I’d have to ask him.” I might get one second before he tried to stab me. “Keep going. You said you’d tell me everything.”
“I said I’d answer your questions. But here is more. They like to film men interfering with their captives, for leverage, for blackmail purposes. I was one of those men. This is why I have protected them but no longer. Kidnapping a member is a step too far.”
“That’s what brought you to this? Only that? Not them torturing, raping, or whatever they’ve done. I’m sure there is more.” And not Karsten doing something similar. Interfering with the girls. I doubt he was forced to do so.
“Curse me if you will. I want to help you help your friend and your playmate. Is he your friend? You tried to shoot him in the head. They sent me the video of that.” He sips, puts it down. “If you don’t wish to save him, I’m paying you a large sum to do it anyway.”
Commenting on Aaron to this pedazo de mierda would be a mistake.
Though there is a plus if he thinks I don’t care.
“You saw what you saw. Aaron was useful to me, that’s it. Juniper is more than a playmate.” And that’s when I see how close I’ve allowed myself to get. “She’s a friend, also. Someone I actually…” I take a sip. “I respect her choices. She has muchos huevos.”
And seeing her dead would be… I cannot imagine my reaction, though I can see her lying crumpled and unmoving, and bloodied.
Her eyes are dull. I’ve seen enough corpses for it to be vivid and gut-wrenching.
My world would definitely be diminished.
It takes me back to how I felt when I left my country and my family there.
I’m looking at my glass, the table is blurred, and I’m swimming in emptiness when Karsten interrupts.
“So, she did kill Nathan? They told me so but—”
“Quiet.” I make a zip motion across my mouth. “That’s not for discussion.”
He winces. “Okay. Okay.” He relaxes into the lounge. “I want you to go in, find them, rescue them, if you want to. It’s up to you that part. I need something else done while you’re there. My own men are not ex-special forces like you are.”
“Were. It’s been years.” And I wasn’t really special forces anyway. Just good at killing and at obeying orders, at first.
“So does that mean you won’t try to find them and then…” He inhales. “Kill Zasha and Shawn for me.”
“Oh, I will do that. Pay me, and I will kill them and shred them into tiny fucking pieces then send them to hell with great pleasure. But I will do it for my own reasons, not for you.”
“I don’t care who you dedicate the killing to. I just need it done.”
“The fee?”
“Five million if it is a perfect operation—as in nothing leaks. You let my forensic IT guy in afterward to delete their archive of films. One million as a deposit. The rest later. Are we together on this?”
That’s a big fee. And an interesting stipulation.
I nod slowly, eyeing this man I thought at least a little moral. Instead, he’s shit. “Probably. I won’t clean up after such high-profile murders. These men will have their hands in a lot of financial pies, across the world. You have to fix that.”
“I can deal with it. Anything else?”
“My own part in this must be a secret. No one except me and you will know I did this, and my own team that I assemble. I’ll mask up when I allow in this IT guy of yours.”
He nods. “Anyone who goes in that house has to be a part of the fraternity already.”
“That limits who I can use. But I can’t do anything unless we know where they are. You have this information?”
“No.”
“Okay.” I hold up my hand and count on my fingers. “I need access to our hotel room here. I need that cleaned and our bills settled and us checked out. Which should’ve been on your list anyway to avoid suspicion.”
He’s nodding but not writing this down. Probably wise.
I continue. “I’ll need half an hour to figure out the equipment and weapons you can get me.
That’s not easy to do in Australia.” He doesn’t even blink.
“I have two men who must be signed in on this. A fighter, a pilot, men with skills I need. I need access to Aaron’s house.
” I drop my hand. “And if I can get what I want from there, I need you to go visit them so I can find out where they are.”
“That would be a problem. For you. Two reasons.”
“Go on.”
“They always pick me up in their vehicle. I’m searched. A bag is placed on my head.”
“Okay. And?” The things some sick men will do for taboo pussy.
“I’d only be expected to go there if I wanted one of their girls. Juniper is the only one I know of at this moment.”
“Fuck.” I duck my head and scrub my hands through my hair. Better this than dead. “Okay. Say that, just do everything you can not to assault her once you get there. I mean everything.”
“Sure. I thought she was just a fuck?”
That had better not be a slight smile pushing at the corner of his mouth. The sick bastard.
“I said I like her. Also, you said you wanted their video archive trashed, but did you know that video of Riley’s assault is what got this whole thing started and that Juniper had a copy?”
“What? How did she get it?”
No word about why he had me film a sexual assault. I can see speculation in his gaze, like he’s wondering if I’m curious.
“I deleted all my copies, as you said to. Did you know that film was sent to Riley? Who sent it?”
He only shrugs. He knows.
“She was looking at starting an investigation into some of our members. So, I gifted her a curated excerpt from it. How did you I know she had it?”
It was sent as a threat. As in, stop looking into this or it happens again.
Some of our members, and maybe the member was him. Did he arrange that first assault to shut her up? So. Many. Possibilities.
“Like I said, it’s what started this whole ball rolling. She sent it on to Juniper the day she died. It’s how we almost caught Shawn and Zasha.” I’m still running through the implications as I say this. I take a gulp of champagne.
“What? It was meant to have nothing in it except a scare factor. Only Nathan was identifiable.”
I shrug. “I’m good, what can I say?”
“Fuck. Oh well.” He grins and relaxes back into the sofa.
He sent it to scare her into dropping a ‘new’ investigation and…she suicided. The man has fewer morals than a canned sardine.
I’ll deal with him when I have to. This equipment list must be made. “I’ll need to write this down. Pen and a sheet of paper. Burn it later. The faster we can do this the better.” Because I know what those two will be doing, if they don’t decide to kill her straight away.
“I’ll get those for you.”
“Okay.” I watch him go to a desk.
What if Riley was actually the first? If Karsten got me to film that assault due to curiosity, did he find out it was not CNC? And then what?
He joined in. It’s another possibility.
And they filmed him and blackmailed him in retaliation. Maybe he’s tired of them making him help them out and he’s scared the videos will get released. Gossip circulated, years ago, about him going beyond CNC in private rooms at some events.
Him sending me to a job in Europe, for over a year and around the same time as the rape trial, it was deliberate—it’s why the trial was barely on my radar. I should’ve thought, should’ve figured it was suspicious.
My brain is spinning, and I’m going in circles, speculating on his reasons.
Now, I’m supposed to be his clean-up man.
It’s not about Aaron at all. It’s about him getting tired of being manipulated.
And he might think it will make him look good.
To who though? A judge? Me? No. It’s all about him wanting out from under this by killing off the men who know what he did and destroying the evidence.
He drops a pen and a loose sheet of paper before me on the table.
“Thanks. I want you to tell me where they picked you up from and how long you travelled for, approximately. In what direction you went, if possible. Sounds, smells, anything that might tell me where they took you. Including when you arrived.”
“Sure. Let me think.” He goes back to the sofa and sits, stares at the floor.
I pick up the pen.
“The first time I went—”
The first time? My fingers attempt to crush the pen.
If this takes days, and I know it will, I’m going to have ulcers if I don’t focus on the work instead of what will be happening to them.
“Also, before I forget.” He raises his head. “I can help you find their location, but I do not want to be there when you raid the place.”
“Understood. We will go in the day after you exit the place.”
“Good. Now, the drive seemed to take…”
I’m taking notes as he speaks, though inside I’m seething. He doesn’t want to be there when the shooting happens. What a pity I like surprises.
I can be good at lying too.