“About as well as you. Why?”
“Stay there. I’ll come to you. Listen, have Reynolds pull up everything we know about Douglas and then we’ll go from there.”
With that, David hung up, and Antonio immediately fired off a text to Reynolds with his father’s request, before starting to pace again. He knew he was driving himself insane with the constant motion, but he didn’t mind. If anything, it was a distraction from the fact that his wife was quite clearly missing.
Fifteen minutes later, Reynolds entered the room, a thick folder in his hand. He placed it on the table, noticing that his boss was still pacing, and put a hand on Antonio’s shoulder to stop him. Antonio looked up at him, his eyes half-wild with fear, and snatched the folder from his grasp.
“I think my father’s just arrived,” he said as he heard the sound of a car pulling up on the driveway. “Would you mind bringing him in here?”
“Of course.”
A few moments passed before David marched into the kitchen and nodded to his son, who nodded back and slid the folder across to him. He opened it, scanning the documents inside with a practiced eye. He didn’t say much, preferring to read in silence, but his raised eyebrows and darkening face told a story that no words could.
“You may as well stay, Reynolds,” Antonio called, stopping Reynolds as he prepared to exit. “You’ve workedwith Douglas, after all, and you’ll probably know things that aren’t in his file.”
“With all due respect, sir, this won’t tell you anything,” Reynolds gestured towards the paperwork. “Douglas was careful to keep his private life as secret as possible. The only reason I know him as well as I do is because, as you know, we worked for Maria for a time, and then ended up in jail and rehab together. Ever since then, though, he’s been a closed book, even to me.”
“So how we will know if he’s trustworthy or not?”
“He isn’t.”
“What do you mean, he isn’t?” Antonio barked, glaring at Reynolds, who gestured towards a chair and took a seat after receiving a nod of approval. He spread his hands on the table and cleared his throat, before launching into the story.
“Douglas lost his entire family in a shoot-out when his sister was pregnant with her first child. He managed to save his sister and niece, who was born shortly afterwards. Nobody saw the child after she was born, and I think he gave her up for dead. When we worked for Maria, he realised that his niece was alive, and in their custody. They said she was a surrogate’s daughter, and they’d taken her in after nobody claimed her,” Reynolds explained. Davidnodded, remembering the story well, and took over from Reynolds.
“I remember that story. He showed me a photograph of her once, saying he’d do almost anything to get her back. If memory serves, she’ll be eighteen soon, and his fear back then was that the girl – I think her name’s Milania – would be forced into prostitution. Maria was a little … unhinged, even back then, and she had some grand plan or other to set up the biggest prostitution ring in Nevada, but thankfully that didn’t come to fruition.”
“She’ll have used the niece to force him into obeying her,” Antonio groaned, rubbing his face. “Why didn’t he come to us? We could have helped him – found the girl through our own methods, even if we weren’t able to get her back.”
“She approached me, too,” Reynolds shrugged. “Fortunately enough, my particular vice had been … taken care of … so she couldn’t use it against me. You have your father to thank for that.”
David gave Reynolds a half smile and waved him away. “It was nothing. You needed help, and I was in a position to give it. I’m just glad you two accepted our help and turned your lives around. You two are far too intelligent to be wasted at the bottom of a beer keg.”
“Even so, I am grateful.”
Antonio rubbed his face again, staring at his father, who met his gaze with a frank yet sympathetic stare. The more he heard about his aunt’s schemes, the more he wondered how on earth he could be her son. If ever there were two people at opposite ends of the spectrum, he and Maria were it.
“So we can assume that Douglas is working for Maria,” he sighed, sounding exhausted. “And if hehasbeen turned, I’m sure there are others who’ve gone the same way.”
“I know Alexei has been working for her since Alyssia fell pregnant, which is why I put him on forced leave,” David mused. “I’ve heard rumours that there’s one other person, but I don’t know who that is, and I haven’t been able to find anything concrete.”
“I’m not sure, either.” Antonio agreed. “Half of them went on vacation for the festive period early. The only ones left are Hazel, Emily, and … Ruben.”
“Ruben … Ruben ...” Reynolds mused, pulling out a little black book and thumbing through it. He found what he was looking for, and started reading aloud.
“Ruben Berkhov, son of Ivan Berkhov. Born in Russia, his mother died at his father’s hands when he wassix. Ruben and his father came to America when Ruben was ten, at which point Ivan – like so many of us – started to work for Maria and Tony. Ruben was sixteen when Ivan died in a gun fight, but I think he just got caught in the crossfire. A few months ago, he put in for a month’s holiday, saying he was heading back to Russia … and said his ticket was open ended. He was supposed to leave tomorrow.”
“Do you keep information oneveryonein there?” Antonio asked, peering at the book, which Reynolds quickly stowed away in his pocket.
“Only the staff, sir,” he said mildly. “The family secrets stay within the family.”
“Be that as it may, this … Ruben, was it?” David interjected. “This Ruben must be the other man who’s involved. The question is, how long has he been working for both sides?”
The three men met each other’s gaze with a horrifying realisation. If they were correct, Maria had been planning to cause havoc for far longer than they’d initially believed, and had embedded double agents in their family for months, if not years.
That on its own was terrifying, never mind the fact that she had kidnapped a heavily pregnant woman, whowas likely to go into labour at any moment. Silence fell, the fear in the air almost palpable, and then Reynolds cleared his throat.
“So, gentlemen.” he said, taking off his gloves and tucking them into his pocket. “What would you like me to do?”
