His thoughts next turned to his wife, Judith. She was in FBI protective custody after Nash had saved her life from Steers’s killers. Judith had initially believed he had sexually abused and then killed their daughter, Maggie, until the FBI had released proof that he had been framed. This was a plan that Steers had come up with to destroy Nash’s relationship with the FBI, who had recruited him to help bring down Steers’s criminal empire.
Well, I might have a new goal now that is not aligned with the FBI’s.
Killing Victoria Steers. And if I get the chance I need to take it. So my being here so close to the woman might be a good thing.
He slept fitfully for a few hours, rose from his bed, showered, changed into a clean set of clothes, and joined Temple in the small kitchen, where a breakfast had been laid out by a woman who never made eye contact or spoke a word. Both men ate their meals in silence, lost in their own dismal thoughts.
After Temple finished his coffee he said, “Jesus, I can’t believe she just shot Ryder like that. And she seemed tolikeher. So God help us.”
“You ever see her kill someone before?” Nash asked.
“I heard her order someone to be killed. And I’ve seen some of herhandiwork.”
“Don’t know how you kept all that to yourself, Mr. Temple. Although I guess you had no choice.”
“Look, Dillon, like I said before, I’m sorry you got sucked into this.”
“I sort of insisted, Mr. Temple. Although I have to say I didn’t foresee this.”
“I. . .I never should have come, either. I should have run for it. But Steers would have found me. And she would have killed my stepmother, Mindy, and her kid, and my siblings, too. My father took the easy way out by jumping off his balcony.”
Nash strongly suspected that Temple had killed his father, Barton Temple, but that didn’t matter right now. Maybe one day the son would be held accountable for his father’s death if he had indeed murdered him. But right now Nash needed to worry about himself. One small misstep and his cover might be blown. He had done well up to this point in keeping the truth from Temple. But with Steers on the scene, tomorrow was simply another day to make a critical mistake. And then he would be dead.
“Any idea who the hell her mother is?” he asked.
Nash actually knew some things about the woman, only because the FBI had filled him in. But the extent of his intel was limited, and he wanted to know whatever else the other man did.
Temple said, “Steers has never mentioned her parents to me, but I found out some details from other sources. Her mother’s name is Masuyo. Her husband was a Navy guy from England who stayed in Japan after he got out of the service. He wasn’t any sort of criminal, at least I don’t think so. But Masuyo had the connections, brains, and cunning that pushed the empire she created to a truly global level.” Temple paused and then said, in a resigned voice, “You should know that Steers killed all her siblings in order to take over the business in some sort of survivor’s contest. I mean, how sick is that?”
“She mentioned turning us in to the Chinese. Is she tight with them?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Temple. “But I do know she’s dangerous and all the guys who work for her could kill us with their pinkies.”
Nash suddenly thought of something he should have before. He rose, grabbed a piece of paper and pen from a drawer, wrote something on the paper, and slid it across to Temple. When the man read it, he looked up, utterly terrified.
Nash had just suggested that the apartment was bugged. He said, “I guess we just wait until she tells us the plan.”
“Right,” said Temple as he tore the paper into strips and threw them into the trash. Then he put his face in his hands and moaned.
A knock on the apartment door a minute later caused both of them to jump.
“I guess it’s time,” said Nash.
CHAPTER
4
THEY WERE ONCE MORE SEATEDacross from Steers in her penthouse. Nash found his eyes wandering to the spot where Lynn Ryder had died and felt some sympathy for the woman, even though she probably would have cheered if he had been the one to perish.
Getting your humanity back, Nash? Don’t. It won’t be useful now because no one around you has any.
His gaze finally landed on Steers, and he had to fight the urge to try to strangle her.
Steers said, “Gentlemen, what I am about to divulge will show the faith that I am placing in each of you. This mission that you will undertake is delicate and dangerous, but the rewards for each of you will be. . .enticing.”
Nash thought the woman had an oddly formal way of speaking. But he assumed that Mandarin had been her first language, or perhaps Japanese. The FBI had told him that Masuyo, while she had purportedly been Japanese and had met her husband there, had actually been an agent of the Chinese Communist Party, and had been sent to Japan to undermine its democratic institutions.
Nash said, “We’re listening.”
