"Iswear, I did not plot this with Shane," Riley said after I pressed her.
"They had inside info," I said.
She cringed. "It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on at the charter company. Vladimir is using it to launder money along with his other businesses. They rent boats to clients who don't exist. They pay invoices on maintenance, fuel, catering, and crew to shell companies. I mentioned something in passing to Shane. That was it. I didn't know he was going to take the ball and run with it."
"How did he know that Vladimir kept the money in the Vault?"
"I don't know. It's not hard to figure out. Just follow his thugs around, and you’ll get a sense of his operation pretty quickly."
"What about James?"
"Who’s James?”
“The guard who was killed.”
“I don't know. I'm telling you, I didn't plan this with Shane. I didn't even know they were doing it until it was done." She broke down into sobs. "I wish I would have just kept my mouth shut. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined they would do something so stupid. I should have known better. Wade is dead because of me."
I wanted to believe her, but I knew better than to trust anybody in a situation like this.
"Not because of you," I replied. "He was a grown man. He made his own decisions. I just hope you're telling me the truth."
"I swear to you, on my brother's grave."
I pulled out my phone and tried to get a bar of service. Out here, it was spotty. I had lost comms with Jack.
The clouds had rolled in, and thunder rumbled in the distance. A flash of lightning sparked on the horizon. We were going to get wet.
I escorted Riley down to the beach and walked around until I got a signal. I called Jack.
He picked up on the first ring. "Well, how’d it go? I take it you’re still alive."
I chuckled. "I got Riley."
He breathed a little easier. "And the gem?"
"It belongs to Vladimir for the time being. Are you still with Shane?"
"He's right here. Want to talk to him?"
"No, but I'm sure his sister does." I handed Riley the phone.
She waited for Shane to come on the line.
"Thank God you're okay!" Shane said.
"No thanks to you, fucking asshole. Why did you do this?"
"Can we talk about this later?"
"No. I want to talk about it now. They could have killed me. Or worse."
"I know,” he said in a meek voice. “I'm sorry about that."
"Are you sorry about Wade, too?"
"You know I am."
"We had everything. A family. We were all together. It lasted a few months, then you threw it all away. I want you to think about that. Something tells me you’re going to have a long time to contemplate this." There was plenty of venom in her voice.
