Go time.
CHAPTER THREE
“WHAT DO YOU know?” Saber snapped into the phone, pacing in front of the window of his Hilton Head home office. It had taken years for the Alastor Group to get a lead on whoever was methodically taking down powerful men. Now, finally, AG had a chance at retribution.
“Unfortunately, neither of the people who came into contact with Schulz before he died had the drive,” the Russian on the other end of the line said without a hint of apology.
Saber didn’t bother asking how the man had made that determination. There were always innocent casualties in a war.
He unclenched his free hand and willed his voice to calm. “So you’re telling me that your man killed him before he actually made the exchange.” The stupid fuckers. If they were here, he’d throw them into the lagoon and let the alligators have their way.
“Yes, but there were two people with him when he died,” the Russian said. “One of them may have been his intended contact. They’ve left the scene together and I have a team of twelve following them now. Enough people that they will never see the same face twice. And even if we lose them, the minute they start uploading files, we will be near enough to move in quickly.”
Slightly mollified that his goon had remembered the importance of waiting for upload so the malware on Viktor’s SD card could infect the contact’s entire network, Saber asked, “Any idea who they are?”
“I have sent photos.”
Saber opened the secure email they used for communication and checked the images, which he’d forward on to Alastor Group. AG’s founder had already narrowed down a pool of journalists who might be passing on tips to the secret group who’d exposed Alastor’s members. Surely finding someone who could use photo recognition to identify them would be a cinch. Though bribing someone at the Lucerne police department might be quicker. Either way, Alastor Group’s leader, Archer, seemed to have contacts and methods Saber could only dream of.
Now, maybe he finally had a solid lead on the people—Alastor Group members had started calling them The Invisibles—who had been arrogant and foolish enough to come after men like him.
Jason was still ruminating over his earlier phone calls to his brother and to his second-in-command, Todd Brennan, when he and Emma turned a corner into a busy square. His brother had sounded shocked at Viktor’s death and claimed no knowledge of any plan to off the old guy. He’d also been pissed that Jason told the police officer he was following Viktor.
“Now you’ve brought me and Renfro into this investigation for something that has nothing to do with us,” he’d raged.
Jason had dug up patience from somewhere. “Once they learned who he worked for and why he was here, they’d have done that anyway.”
Todd had been a little more suspicious of the circumstances and timing, even if killing the corporate traitor seemed like an extreme measure. “Except, why have you follow Viktor if they had a plan of their own?” he’d asked.
Jason still had no answer. It was possible Viktor had another enemy, but Jason didn’t trust coincidences. The police officer interviewing him didn’t seem to either. Given that he’d been following Viktor—and had admitted as much—she’d been rightfully suspicious of Jason’s role in the man’s death. Other witness accounts had saved him from arrest, but detectives would surely be looking deeper into him, as well as everyone connected to Renfro Warner and KLM Braun now.
He’d forwarded photos to Todd of the three people who’d come into contact with Viktor between the time he’d stepped out of a ride share to the time he’d collapsed. Unfortunately, Jason had been too busy trying to save the man to get anything but his own description of the pickpocket.
Looking up, Jason noticed a familiar woman reflected in a storefront window just as he and Emma turned onto a quiet side street. The blonde had been with the other reporters at the lion monument, and there was no way she was here shopping for souvenirs all of a sudden.
Dammit.
He gently urged Emma through an open doorway into a bookshop. “We’re being followed,” he said.
She was smart enough not to look behind them as he dragged her past several tall shelves and then down a long row of souvenirs to a hat rack. He slid a rainbow-colored beanie over his hair, and plunked a wide-brimmed hat onto Emma’s head.
Then he turned them around, and slid to his knees, now just below eye level with her. With luck, the rack of T-shirts and her body would mostly hide him from view. She could easily blend into the crowd. Him, not so much.
“What does she look like?” Emma asked, looking down at him from under the hat’s brim, close enough that he could’ve stretched up to kiss her.
The desire took root and he tried to shake it off. He’d lost the right to ask anything from her long ago. “White woman, curly blond hair, glasses, pink blouse, khakis.”
Emma laughed incredulously. “You’re very observant.”
“It’s been a necessity in most of my work.” His knees protested the hard floor, and his thigh wasn’t very happy right now either, but he ignored them all. “Hug me.”
Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him, her body warm and solid. The faint scent of coconut swirled around them, and holding her made his skin tingle. All he could think about in the moment was kissing her senseless. What the fuck was wrong with him?
Just remembering their past made him hot with shame. He’d failed to protect her before, but he could do so now, even if just from a reporter.
He clamped down on his visceral reaction and focused on the job at hand. “She just walked in.” Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the woman hurry through the bookstore, quickly scanning the customers, her gaze passing right over Jason and Emma as she headed for the rear entrance.
“She just went out the back,” he said, reluctantly letting Emma go as she stepped away.
