Chapter 44
Shane was gone.
The stateroom and en suite were empty.
I searched all of the below-deck staterooms, then hustled back up to the main salon and told the others.
"Gone?" JD said with a raised brow.
"I thought you were watching him."
"I was. He didn't get out this way."
There were plenty of ways off the boat.
Shane could have gone out through the engine room, taken another companionway to the main deck, and hopped over the side of the boat.
But Jack would have heard a splash. Maybe JD was preoccupied, and Shane snuck past him on a side deck and made it off the boat.
The guy was a trained professional. Capable and dangerous, even after all these years.
I glared at Jack.
He raised his hands innocently. "Don't look at me. I did my job."
My accusing eyes found Riley. I wondered if our tryst in the shower was just a diversion.
"Don't blame me. Shane said nothing to me about escaping. I didn't talk to him. We're not on speaking terms at the moment."
I called Shane's burner phone, but he didn't answer.
I sent a text to Isabella and asked her to track Shane's phone. But at this hour, she was probably asleep. That was something I don't think she did much of. Not in her line of work.
"What do you want to do about him?" JD asked.
"There's nothing we can do at the moment. It's not like we can get a warrant." I looked at Riley. "Are you willing to testify against him?"
She cringed. "Don't put me in that position. I'm really pissed at him right now. But I can't be the one who sends him away for the rest of his life. He's an accessory to murder, isn't he?"
I nodded.
"You and I both know he's not going to last long in jail this time.
Vladimir has connections. He'll get shanked in the first week.
" She frowned and shook her head. "I can't do that to him.
My testimony isn't going to get you anywhere either.
I swear to you, I didn't know they were planning to rob the Vault. It was just something I said to him off the cuff that Vladimir was running a shady business and probably laundering money. Anybody with half a brain could figure out what Vladimir was doing. It’s not rocket science. "
“What about the Eye of Destiny?”
She shifted uncomfortably, then admitted. “Yeah, I knew Vladimir came into possession of it. He was giddy about it. Even showed it to me.”
“And you mentioned that to Shane,” I said, annoyed.
“In passing. I didn’t think he’d get the idea to steal it. I’m not a criminal. I don’t think that way.”
The rain still poured outside. Mooring lines creaked and groaned, and the wind whipped around the boat.
"Where would he go?" I asked Riley.
She shrugged. "Back to Wade's house?"
I shook my head. "I don't think he will go anywhere that's known to Vladimir."
"He's got 48 hours to come up with 12 million bucks," Jack said. Unless he's got another heist planned, I don't think he's gonna make that deadline.”
My mouth tensed with a frown when I realized Shane’s only option at this point. "He's going to kill Vladimir. That's the only way to get him off his back. Then Shane will try to disappear."
"He might just go on the run," Riley said, hoping against hope.
I shook my head. "No. Shane will tie up loose ends first. Every step he takes for the rest of his life will be haunted if he doesn't kill Vladimir."
I looked at Jack, and we knew what we had to do.
He hesitated for a long moment. "Now, I'm just thinking out loud here.
We all know Vladimir is a bad guy, doing bad things.
No telling how many people he's put into the ground.
We've got nothing on him. The kidnapping, all that stuff we’ve been through, we have nothing to connect him to it.
That guy is going to walk away clean." Jack shrugged.
"We could just sit back and let fate play its hand. "
I gave him a look.
"Okay, Okay. It was just a thought."
My phone buzzed with a call from Shane.
“Where are you?” I growled.
“You’ve got every right to be pissed. I get it. I’m really sorry, but I can’t go back to jail. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’ll never be able to repay you. I’m aware of that.”
“Shane, don’t do anything stupid.”
“Riley’s always going to be in danger if I don’t do something. Just give me 24 hours. Then I’m gone. You’ll never see me again.”
“I can’t do that.”
“So, Vladimir just gets away with this?”
“No, but there is a procedure.”
“For you, maybe.”
“Shane, I’ll handle Vladimir.”
After a long beat, he said. “Okay. You’re right.”
I knew Shane wouldn’t roll over that easily. “Now turn yourself in, confess, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you get a good deal.”
He thought for a moment. “You’re a true friend, Tyson. I’ll see you in the next life, brother.”
He ended the call, and I grumbled, “We’ve got to stop him.”
A look of dread filled Riley’s face.
“Stay here,” I said to her.
JD and I gathered our things, grabbed an umbrella, and hurried down the dock to the Porsche. We climbed inside, and Jack fired up the engine.
We drove across the island to the Platinum Dunes Estates. Vladimir lived in a sprawling mansion on Meridian Court. Jack pulled to the curb and parked a few houses down. “You think he’s really going to try to kill Vladimir tonight?”
“Now is probably the best opportunity.”
I didn't know how many henchmen Vladimir had working for him.
There were the two on the helicopter with him, the pilot, and the four who had taken me out to Crystal Key.
There could be seven or eight security personnel at his mansion right now.
Maybe more. All armed to the teeth. You'd have to be a fool to attempt something like that.
Then again, Shane hadn't been acting rationally lately, if ever.
But it was almost 5:00 AM. The sun would be coming up soon.
Vladimir and his goons were likely sleeping.
Those on guard would be a little foggy after the events of the evening.
Like many of the McMansions in the neighborhood, Vladimir's estate had a well-manicured lawn, a circular driveway, and a gated courtyard with a high concrete fence.
Security cameras at the front of the house kept an eye on things, and I was sure they were strategically placed throughout the property.
The storm continued to rage, the rain coming down in sheets. It was almost impossible to see through the windshield between swipes of the wiper blades. Jack kept the engine idling.
I ran through multiple tactical scenarios in my head. How would I accomplish this as a lone gunman?
I wouldn't.
It was too stupid. But if I was desperate, I’d come up from the canal behind the house.
Stick to the shadows. Enter through a second-story window or door—less likely to have an alarm sensor.
In this kind of rain, the cameras might not pick up as much.
The lenses would be covered in water and fogged over with haze from the humidity.
Maybe this was the perfect time to strike.