Elizabeth said quietly, “You didn’t have to try to kill me, Tommy. I think Father would have come around eventually, now that you’re clean. You would have had almost all of it, the title, Darlington Hall, Palmer House. I always wanted you to have what should be yours, always, Tommy.”
Rome said, “But that wasn’t enough, Elizabeth, it never was. Tommy wanted it all. He wanted your inheritance too, and he was willing to kill you for it. I imagine he’ll continue to blame Adara for everything, even from his prison cell. At least it’s doubtful he can go back on cocaine in prison.”
Tommy shook his head back and forth, looked at each of them. “How could you let this man, this stranger, convince you I’m guilty, Elizabeth? It was Adara, all of it. She used me, manipulated me to get what she wanted. I’m your bloody brother, dammit! Your brother.”
“Yes, Tommy, I know exactly who and what you are now.”
His eyes narrowed on her face. He laughed. “Look at you, all sad, tears in your eyes. All an act. You’ve always resentedme, haven’t you? You kept me in cocaine for years, and why? You knew I’d be the next Earl of Camden, knew Father would beggar me and you’d get it all. But that wasn’t enough, you wanted control over me, didn’t you? While you, the upstanding daughter, showed our parents you were the only child they could trust, the only one worthy of their love. And you managed that, didn’t you?”
“Tommy, please stop this. It’s over, all of it.” She looked over at Jalal. “I didn’t want to believe any of it before we came here, but now? It’s all so clear, right down to Jalal’s ring.”
Jalal said, “It’s useless to keep trying, Tommy, you might as well give it up. Imagine, she made out my ring even in that downpour. As for you, Tommy, you sound like a tosser and quite tedious. You want the truth? Adara wanted me near you to be sure you didn’t slide back into your precious cocaine. But you weren’t about to backslide. You knew exactly what you wanted, and you used us all to get it. Your death, Lady Elizabeth, would have filled his pockets to brimming.” He slipped a small Ruger from the sleeve of his jacket into his hand and pointed it at her. “I’m close enough, Mr. FBI Agent, only six feet away. Don’t even consider trying to shoot me. Trust me, at this distance I’ll shoot her face off. Drop your Glock now.”
Rome knew what his training required, but without hesitation, he dropped his Glock to the beautiful Turkish carpet at his feet.
Jalal said, “Well, Tommy, you assured us no one would ever suspect you, the grateful little brother, so brave to stop his addiction without anyone’s help. But they figured it out, didn’t they? And now Adara will go to prison. My fiery Adara, who hated all things English, wanted to be an English aristocrat maybe more than she wanted your fortune. But most of all, she wanted to prove to her parents she was better than her brother, the imam. She would be the Countess of Camden.” Jalal laughed. “She had dreams of what she’d do with yourmoney. Maybe she would have killed you—after, of course, you or she, or both of you, dispensed with your parents.”
Tommy said easily, “Of course she wanted it all, we both did. She would have made a splendid countess. With her beauty and charm she’d have been the toast of London. Sure, there’d have been talk, just as there was when my whore of a sister here parted her legs for Samir Basara. She would have reveled in it. And her brother, the imam? He would no longer be able to look down on her as he does every woman, pat her on the head like a good little dog when she said something clever.”
Jalal said, “He’s a man, of course he’d consider her less than he is. As for you, I tried to talk her out of coming here so often, and so did Yusuf, but she only laughed, told us no one would ever consider Elizabeth’s precious brother was involved. And you laughed as well. I admit I was amazed you were able to stop using cocaine, but you wanted your sister’s money even more than she did.”
He looked at Elizabeth. “Do you know, I trusted Khaled Aziz because Adara did. I would have been with them if only I hadn’t had to be at my job.” He paused, looked at each one of them. “So, Tommy, what do we do with these two? If they know, perhaps Eiserly knows as well. Perhaps he even knows they are here.”
Tommy said, “It’s possible. You and I will be all right if you do exactly what I say. We cannot kill them here, so call a couple of your firebrand friends, take these two somewhere. Make it so they’re never found.”
Jalal gave a short laugh. “I don’t have any friends left. They’re all dead, because of you. I do promise this, though: before I leave England, I will kill that traitor, Khaled. For Adara. You never deserved her.” He studied Elizabeth’s face. “Killing these two will relieve only some of my pain.”
Tommy said quietly, “You called me tedious, you think I’m arrogant. Well, it was your people who were incompetent, youincluded, Jalal. You can’t pretend otherwise. You tried three times to kill her, but you failed. And you can’t put the blame for that on that undercover officer. Those first three attempts were on you alone.”
He shot Elizabeth a look. “I will grieve with my parents when we’re all told of Elizabeth’s disappearance. And his. They will lean on me in their grief, and I will comfort them. No one need ever know.” Tommy stopped, studied Jalal’s set face. “You must know someone happy to rid the world of two infidels for a great deal of money, you medieval fanatics always do. Come, give me the little gun while you make the calls. Then you can leave with them, and we’ll never need to see each other again.”
Jalal said, shaking his head, “I don’t think so, Viscount. I will kill these two, for Adara. But you first, you pathetic shite.” He swung the Ruger toward Tommy and shot him in the heart. He looked dispassionately down at Tommy. “I always thought you were pathetic—selfish and greedy to your miserable soul.” He looked back at Elizabeth and Rome. “I’ll leave this benighted city. Sorry, but the three of you will kill each other.”
As he reached down to grab his Beretta off the floor, Elizabeth jumped forward, kicked her foot into his chin. He grunted, reeled but tried to grab his gun. Rome pulled his knife from its sheath around his ankle so fast it was a blur and sent it straight into Jalal’s neck. Jalal fired as he went down. The bullet went into the large window, spiderwebbing the glass. Jalal stared at Rome disbelievingly as he lifted his hand, lightly touched the handle of the knife in his neck, and fell to the floor.
Elizabeth dropped to her knees beside her brother, pulled him up in her arms, rocked him. “Tommy, no, no, please—”
Tommy opened his eyes, already filming with death, and gave her a twisted smile. “Adara called you a worthless whore. I defended you, at first.” His head fell to the side. Elizabeth bent over him and wept.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
FBI Field Office
Philadelphia
Wednesday evening
Savich sat at his ease across the conference table from Carla Cartwright and her lawyer after introductions, a cup of tea by his hand. He’d said nothing as SAC Claire Gregson Mirandized Cartwright and turned on the recorder, reciting the names of those present and the date. Reggie Astley, Carla’s high-powered Philadelphia criminal lawyer—with ties to the mob, it was said—then spoke in his commanding baritone.
“Agent Gregson, we’re here because you threatened my client with arrest this morning on a charge of embezzlement of two hundred million dollars from the Navarro Investment Fund. You have not provided any evidence to prove this ridiculous charge, or even how Ms. Cartwright was able to do such a thing. Let me remind you, Archer Navarro is still hiding somewhere and is obviously the guilty party in this crime. My client assures me there was nothing you could have found in your search of her office and home today since she is innocent of all these charges. We are here as a courtesy, though it was very inconvenient for both of us. I believe it is time for you to tell us why.”
Gregson nodded to Astley and said to Carla, “Ms. Cartwright,I asked you to come back this evening because we have reason to believe you own a prepaid cell phone that hasn’t yet been found in our search of your house or office. Where is it?”
Carla Cartwright gave her a blank look. “A prepaid phone? A burner? Why would I own such a thing?”
“We have irrefutable information that you indeed do, Ms. Cartwright.”
“Wait, now I remember. I did buy one, some time ago. I got it as a gag gift for a friend which I was unable to give him. Of course I had no need of it and so I probably tossed it. I honestly don’t remember.”
