“Get as far away from her mother as possible. After that, I don’t know.”
* * *
A few weeks later Nash spoke with Shock, who told Nash that he was at his training academy with Rhett Temple.
Nash filled him in on Steers selling her business and not really caring about Temple anymore.
“So I can cut him loose then?” said Shock.
“How’s he doing up there?”
“Belly-achin’ ’bout how tough it is. Just makes me kick his ass harder.”
“If you can stand it, Shock, keep him up there for a few more months, charge him triple what you quoted, and continue to kick the shit out of him. And hopefully, before long, his next home will be a prison.”
“Done. Tomorrow I think we’ll see how many times we can make him puke.”
Nash went out to his car, drove off, and called Agent Morris.
“The sale’s been officially completed, and Connor Lord is now in control of the Steers crime empire, with Masuyo as second-incommand and I’m sure a vocal one.”
“We’ll have to let this play out now and build up a case against both of them.”
“I won’t have access to that,” Nash said. “They didn’t invite me to the party.”
“We have other ways now that we know who and what to look for. Between you and me, Lord is an interesting piece of the puzzle. As I said before, he has connections to some heavy political hitters around the world. And now that he’s taken over Steers’s business, we could bring down a whole ton of bad actors in high places that we used to think were untouchable.”
“Well, you have the names of her former partners. And Steers told me that Middle Eastern sheiks and princes also use that prison to hide enemies. And I’m sure some or all of them are in bed with other criminal elements. I mean, the oil and gas won’t last forever.”
“So what will you do now?” asked Morris.
“For now, hang close to Steers. There’s more there for me to learn.”
“Just so you know, we’re pulling the trigger fairly soon, Walter. DOJ figures they’re building an ironclad case against the woman. She’ll go away for life, or maybe she’ll even get the death penalty. You did find that stuff belonging to your daughter. You testify to that, she’s cooked.”
Nash felt like the man had plunged a knife into his chest. “Wait, testify?”
“Yes. You’re going to be the lead government witness in the case against Steers.”
“I didn’t agree to do that,” Nash said heatedly.
“I’m sorry, but I just assumed you would know that would be required. Physical evidence is important, but we’ll need your testimony to really nail her.”
“Again, I never agreed to testify against her.”
“But if you don’t, all of this is pretty much for naught.”
“I don’t work for you, okay? I work for myself. I thought I made that clear.”
“I don’t think you grasp the situation. And we paid you a lot of money, in case you’ve forgotten,” Morris added aggressively.
“I think I grasp the situation a lot better than you do. And don’t throw the money in my face. I lost my daughter because of your screw-up.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I. . .I didn’t mean that. And I know you’re under tremendous pressure, but you need to listen to reason.”
“No, Reed, you just need to let me do this my way.”
Nash ended the call, pulled off the road, and sat there, his heart hammering into his ears.
