Instead, Luke hauled Stern up off the desk and locked an arm around his neck. The big knife rested at the base of his throat. “Looks like we’re at a standoff,” Luke drawled. “You shoot Ethan, I slice Stern’s throat.”
The woman’s dark eyebrows went up. “Are you certain I care?”
Stern trembled. “What are you doing, Myra? I realize we have an unusual relationship, but I always thought you loved me.”
“I do, darling. Of course I do.” She ran a hand tenderly down Bick Gallagher’s arm. Bick was years younger. Clearly they were involved, or at least had been.
“You’re a good husband,” Myra said. “I wouldn’t want to lose you.” She turned to Ethan. “Perhaps we could make a deal. How much would it take for the two of you to forget whatever it is you think you know about our diamonds?”
“So it was you, not your twin brother,” Ethan said. “You’re the one calling the shots.”
“That’s right. Peter’s a good boy. He’s always done what I told him and look how well it’s paid off for him.”
“He lives like a king,” Ethan said. “No doubt about it. Too bad it’s all about to end.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right. The cops know everything. It’s only a matter of time. The best you can do is use whatever connections you’ve got to get out of the country.”
“Let me kill them,” Gallagher said, his hand steady on the trigger of the pistol. “We’ll be gone before the police figure out what happened.”
“You fool. You can probably kill Ethan. But I know people.” She pointed at Luke. “You kill his brother, that one won’t let you live.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Gallagher said.
“You’ll do what I tell you.”
“Why’d you have Delilah killed?” Ethan asked her, stalling for time. And frankly, curious after all the trouble he’d had because of Myra Stern.
“Little bitch found out about the smuggling—thanks to Jason’s carelessness. She tried to blackmail us. No one blackmails Myra Stern.”
Ethan flicked a glance at Luke. Both of them were ready to make a move. “You send the notes?”
She smiled coldly. “Brilliant, wasn’t it? Bick came up with the design, but the idea belonged to me.”
“It was fairly ingenious, I’ll admit. Even had me fooled for a while.”
Myra turned from Ethan back to Gallagher. “You really think you can kill both of them, darling?”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Myra, wait!” Jason pleaded, struggling against Luke’s hold. It was the moment they needed. Luke shoved Stern between Gallagher and Ethan. Gallagher fired, Ethan sidestepped, and the shot slammed into Stern. Jason moaned as he hit the floor. Ethan ignored the burning pain in his side that told him the bullet had gone through Stern into him and launched himself at Gallagher.
The men crashed onto the Persian carpet, Ethan on top, Gallagher on the bottom. He was a tough man, a professional soldier, his blond hair and good looks disguising the hard man underneath. Ethan thought of Val and how close Gallagher had come to killing her, and slammed a fist into his pretty-boy face. Ethan thought of Pete and Dirk and the fire, and punched him hard again.
Gallagher threw a right that cut into Ethan’s eyebrow. He grunted as the man rolled on top. Ethan slid his hands around Gallagher’s throat, rolled on top, and squeezed until Bick’s face turned beet red. He struggled, kicked, fought for air. Ethan thought of Val and squeezed harder.
“Don’t kill him, big brother,” Luke called out to him. “We don’t have time to dick with the cops over this.”
Ethan held on a little longer, till Gallagher’s eyeballs were bulging and his body went limp, but his brother was right. And the wound in his side was beginning to make him dizzy. He rolled to his feet, caught the plastic tie Luke tossed him, flipped Gallagher onto his back, and bound his wrists.
He looked over to where his brother had Myra Stern in plastic cuffs. Jason was bleeding out on the floor. Looked like the bullet had nicked his heart. Myra didn’t seem all that concerned.
“You call it in?” Ethan asked, wiping blood from his eyebrow, wiping his bloody knuckles on his jeans.
“Yeah. Cops and an ambulance on the way.”
The room spun. He was losing blood. He pressed a hand to his side and it came up red.
