Chapter 11
“Crusher and Phantom will take shifts, with Fearghas and Dax guarding Marcus Calloway and our stranger in the gray overcoat,” Hammer announced when they returned to headquarters.
“I got a hit on the photo Ms. Cate gave me of the driver,” Dmytro called out from his corner. “I also got it on the photo she gave me of the man who has been shadowing her.”
Draco and Cate crossed to stand behind Dmytro.
On the monitor, he had the photo she’d taken of Draco with the gray-coat man in the background.
Dmytro had zoomed in on the man in the background and refined the facial features.
The photo beside it was of the unconscious driver who’d tried to run over Marcus.
Even with the beginning of a bruise on his forehead, Draco could see the resemblance between the two photos.
“His name is Sean Sanders,” Dmytro said. “He’s a former Delta Force operator who left the military after the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. He joined a black ops mercenary group for a while, then went indie as a gun for hire.”
“The doctor reported that the driver, Herr Sanders, has a head injury and is unconscious.” Inspector Brandt tucked her phone in her pocket as she joined them in front of the monitor. “They will notify me when he regains consciousness.”
“And Calloway?” Darco asked.
“Concussion. Heavy bruising, minor lacerations. No broken bones,” Brandt reported. “He has come in and out of consciousness. I will go to the hospital soon to question Herr Calloway.”
“I’m going as well,” Cate said. “When I spoke with him on the street, he seemed adamant that the real threat was from someone other than the local law enforcement, the FBI or even me. He was nervous, looking all around, like he was anticipating trouble.”
“Which found him,” Draco said, his lips tightening into a thin line. “And it nearly found you.”
She gave him a brief nod. “I’m fine, which is more than I can say for Calloway and Sanders. Now that they’re in custody, they might be more willing to give us answers.”
“Ready to go get them?” Draco asked.
Cate exchanged a glance with Inspector Brandt. “I’d like to be the one to question him.”
The inspector nodded. “As long as I’m there,” she held up an electronic device, “and recording, I have no issue.”
“Then let’s go,” Cate said and led the way to the building’s exit.
Draco moved ahead to the car Hammer had waiting for them and checked the driver’s identification.
Once satisfied, he held the door for Cate and Brandt to enter, poised to leap in should the driver take off without him.
He’d have PTSD where taxis were concerned for a long time after seeing Cate taken away in one without him.
They entered the hospital minutes later.
The scent of antiseptic permeated the air, reminding Draco why he didn’t like hospitals.
He’d had his share of injuries during his time with the Navy SEALS and Stealth Operations Specialists.
He’d had friends who’d gone in broken and come out in a body bag.
No, hospitals were depressing for the most part.
A man walked beside a wheelchair, carrying a baby’s car seat, his face both anxious and joyous at the same time. In the chair, pushed by a hospital attendant, was a young woman with a newborn infant in her arms, swaddled in a soft pink blanket.
In that moment, Draco amended his thoughts on hospitals. Sometimes, they weren’t depressing.
He noted Cate’s head turning to follow the young family, a soft smile on her lips.
She’d make a good mom.
They took the elevator to the third floor and stepped out to find Crusher and Fearghas leaning against the walls outside two rooms.
When they spotted them, they straightened.
“Did you come to take over the shift?” Crusher asked.
“Sorry, man, I’ve got my own body to guard.” He gripped Crusher’s arm and pulled him in for a quick hug. “How has it been? Can we get you anything?”
“It’s been quiet. Marta came by earlier with food for both of us. We’re good for now. Calloway is awake, based on the amount of curse words I keep hearing. He doesn’t like being handcuffed to a hospital bed and keeps demanding a lawyer or for someone to press charges or let him go.”
“Good,” Cate said. “Let him stew. He’ll get a little taste of what it feels like to be held in custody.” Her gaze shifted to Brandt and then Draco. “Ready?”
The inspector nodded, switched her recording device on, and slipped it into her pocket.
Draco led the way into the room to make certain that the injured Marcus was the only other occupant and that he was tethered to the bedrail with handcuffs. Then he allowed the ladies to enter.
Marcus Calloway lay on an elevated mattress with a pillow behind his head, a bandage on his temple and a bruise on his jawline. The steady beep of a heart monitor was the only sound.
Draco crossed the room to stand at a window overlooking the parking lot below. He turned and stood with his back to the window, his focus on Cate.
Cate approached the bed.
Inspector Brandt held back, remaining close enough to record their conversation and far enough to let Cate be the focus.
“Marcus.”
“What do you want?” Marcus grumbled.
Draco could have answered that. She wanted to take him down. He’d put her friend through hell. But he wasn’t a threat anymore. He’d get his just deserts; Dana would be free, and she could divorce the bastard.
What Cate wanted was answers.
“The car that hit you was driven by Sean Sanders,” she said. “Name ring a bell?”
Marcus’s lip pulled up in a sneer. “Never heard of him.”
She went on, stating facts. “He’s a former Delta Force operator now a mercenary, gun for hire.”
Marcus’s face paled, and he glanced away. “Still don’t know him.”
“Well, he knew who you were and tried to kill you.” Her voice softened.
Draco’s chest swelled with pride at how well she handled herself.
“So?” Marcus said.
“He’s two doors down with a fractured skull.”
Marcus’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know him. Why should I care?”
“When he wakes, he’s going to talk.” Her brow dipped low. “Will that be before or after you?”
Marcus’s gaze shifted to the door and back to Cate. His usual arrogance seemed to have worn thin, almost brittle; the muscles in his throat worked nervously.
“Not going to talk?” Cate crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, then I’ll fill in the blanks with what I know and what the Kantonspolizei are now aware of.
” She tipped her head toward the inspector.
“This is Inspector Brandt. She’s been working your case even before I got involved.
Let me paint the picture. You set up a corporation called Alpenhorn.
You wrote the specs to get it approved as a vendor for the US government even though, in truth, it didn’t exist. You created the purchase orders for products that were never delivered but were paid for with US tax dollars.
That money, totaling nine million dollars, was funneled into a bank here in Zurich.
You faked your death, giving yourself time to disappear.
” She cocked an eyebrow. “Did I leave anything out?”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “You can’t prove that.”
She smiled. “Actually, I can prove most of it. I just can’t figure out why someone as smart as you hasn’t touched the money in that account when the evidence has your fingerprints all over it?” Cate tilted her head slightly. “Unless the account isn’t actually yours, and you can’t get to it.”
Marcus’s gaze shifted to the door in a flash of fear and back to her, a flush of ruddy red rising up his cheeks. Anger.
Good, Draco thought. She’s getting to him.
Marcus lowered his voice to barely a whisper.
“Let’s say all of that is true, not that I’m admitting to anything.
I didn’t build the operation. I’m just the face, the name on the forms. It wasn’t my idea.
I’m just the patsy set up to cover for someone else.
To take the fall. The real person behind it all, the man who controls that money, hasn’t left his mark on anything.
He remains squeaky clean,” Marcus’s fists curled into the blanket.
“And to ensure his reputation remains pristine, he sent this Sanders dude as a cleanup crew to take me out.”
“I need the name,” Cate said.
Marcus shook his head. “I want a deal.”
“It’s not going to happen. You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“I don’t care what position I’m in,” Marcus snorted.
“The name is all I have left to bargain with. You want it more than you want to see me dead.” He met her gaze, unflinching.
“Hell, you know the name. The asshole pulling the strings is your father’s friend, Garrett Starling.
He set it up. He’s been skimming money off the contracts for the federal government for years.
I doubt Alpenhorn is the only fake corporation he’s created.
It just happened to be the one he handed me. ”
Cate’s jaw tightened, the only clue the name meant something to her. He was a man her father had called his friend for fifteen years.
“We have the papers from the drop box. His signatures are all over the forms.”
Marcus shook his head and winced. “Rubber stamps. He signs thousands of orders a week. He’ll swear he never read them and claim I forged them, betraying a trusted official and the US government.
” He pushed his free hand through his hair, his voice dropping.
“The signatures won’t hold up in court. He’s got this operation down to a science.
The money is all he cares about. I guarantee that if you touch it, move it or freeze it, he’ll come looking for you. It’s his. It’s who he is.”
Cate stared at Marcus.
Draco could practically see the wheels turning in her head like they were in his.
The money was the way to get Sterling to show his true colors. Tracing who owned it through shell companies would lead them on wild goose chases and take time they didn’t have.
Cate’s brow furrowed. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I learned the hard way what that money means to me. I kept copies of all those documents. I did all the dirty work, took the risks, sacrificed my life, my family and my career. I told him I wanted half.” He snorted.
“He said no.”
“The man wants the money, the job, his pension and reputation. The way to keep it all is to eliminate me.” He looked up at Cate. “He would’ve taken Dana as well. She’s safer in jail than out where he can get to her. The man wants me dead and wouldn’t hesitate to use anyone else to get to me.”
Cate stared at the man for a long silent moment, broken only by her cell phone’s chirp.
Draco’s sounded at the same time. He glanced down at the message.
Dmytro: I’m in the account
Cate glanced up at the same time as Draco, her eyes wide.
She turned to Marcus, her lips pressing into a straight line. “You’re about to be worth a lot more to him,” she said. “Alive.”