“We substituted Cassie into one empty spot,” Wilds said.
“Did you buy her ticket or just tell the charity to give it to you?” Ian asked.
“What the hell does that matter?”
“It’s a hole that could blow her cover,” Ian said.
“Chase, you know that didn’t matter. The target would be the only one who cared. Why would he look?”
“Are you always that careless?” Ian retorted.
“My people didn’t need a babysitter. Cassie knew her job.”
“And the seating arrangements?” Kieran asked.
“Not my fault she lost her focus because her ex was at the table. She was the idiot who turned her com off. It’s on her.”
Kieran huffed. “You knew Whitman was her ex? How come she didn’t get the updated list? None of the Whitmans were on the guest list at all.”
“Half the guests there knew about the ex. Not my fault she couldn’t hack it. As far as the list and the table change, I guess it was an omission on my part she didn’t get the memo. I have to say it was fun to watch.”
“You set her up to throw her off her game—to make her look bad. I knew you could be vindictive, but I never thought you would risk one of your own operators. You knew she was in the bathroom. You knew you were down two, and you knew the com didn’t carry in there. You knew she was silent for too long, yet you left her out there without backup.”
“Oh, please, Chase, you can’t have it both ways. Either she can do the job, or she can’t. Here’s the situation: the ice princess had a job to do, period. Whitman is lovestruck, and his wife blows a gasket. Hell, even pregnant, that woman was hot. That would be some catfight. Nothing mattered to her; Modine shut him down. Hell, you almost fucked her on the dance floor. Real smooth, Chase, but she shut you down quick enough too. The Ames kid was all over her—all night. We saw his touchy-feely act. I wasn’t going to call an op because she was uncomfortable. The kid was tenacious. I thought he cooled off when Whitman Sr. put him in his place. I didn’t know Ames would field dress her.”
Ian lunged for his throat. Wilds stepped out of his grasp. “And after he did, you tried to cover your ass. You wished her dead. How could you do that?” Ian’s eyes turned black with rage.
“She should have offered to screw him—then I bet he would have let her be. It might even thaw her out a bit. That girl needs a huge hard one.”
Ian circled around him and opened the door. “Kieran, I need you to deal with this. Wilds, you say one more word—and I will make sure you never live to see another day.” He slammed the door. Wilds kept laughing.
* * *
Kieran moved in front of Wilds. “If you have one piece of decency left, I need you to think very hard. You are aware of the subsequent attempts on Cassie’s life in the hospital?”
“What? You think I did that?”
“Did you?”
“No, you’re out of your mind! If Mother Nature took its course—and she died, that was one thing. Now enough. I want to see her. Where do you have her stashed?”
“I need to know who you involved in your search for her.”
“Did you lose her?”
“Answer the question. There was another attempt made on Cassie's life.”
“Damn, Chase. I teased her maybe too much, but I wouldn’t. God. I called in Critical Incident Intelligence and an operational team. We put men on the estate, your office, the Paulsens, and Sophie. Your people kept us busy, but we figured she was one of two places—here or the building in DC. So, which one, Chase?”
“When did you pull them?” Kieran asked.That added at least thirty more people to check out.
“We pulled them the week after your brother abducted her from the hospital. Us working stiffs don’t have unlimited budgets.”
Who were the people tailing the family after the FBI pulled back?Kieran wondered.
* * *
FBI Director Donald Samuels and Paul Yates were sitting with Luke Paulsen, watching a live feed from the den. “Damn. Sorry, Chase. I knew things were bad. He will have his hearing. I was thinking a transfer and demotion, but with this, coupled with the subsequent reports from the rest of the team, I’ll recommend termination. Everyone else is looking at suspensions, retraining, and transfers, but they’ll keep their jobs.”
