“My guy will do it,” Hillenbrand snapped.
He rattled off the number and let out a huff of annoyance when Hillenbrand just hung up. If rudeness was all he had to deal with for such a high payday, then he could deal with it. At this point he could deal with anything because very soon he’d be quitting his job and retiring somewhere warm.
Chapter 9
Gun: term for a mortar or artillery piece. Military or former military personnel don’t use it to describe a pistol or rifle. Instead they often use the term “weapon.”
Rayford took a sip of his scotch, not caring that it was early afternoon. He was ready to drink half of Hillenbrand’s bottle as he watched that grungy hacker, Gary, work on triangulating a cell phone number.
“If the local police are involved, shouldn’t we just give them the info? Anonymously or something?” Rayford asked, glad his voice didn’t shake. This was a little too hands-on for him.
Hillenbrand shot him a derisive look before turning back to watch Gary work. “It’s better if we kill Pankov outright. If he gets brought in for questioning, who knows what he’ll say? And we don’t know who that woman is either.”
“Didn’t your contact say she’d been kidnapped?” Who cared who she was? Hillenbrand seemed to have contacts everywhere, including someone in administration he’d paid off at the D.C. Police Department.
“Yes, and she was flagged as a priority even though she’d only been missing for a few hours. My contact knows literally nothing else about her. That’s not good. Since it’s doubtful Pankov and his men randomly kidnapped a woman, she must be important to them somehow. Unfortunately her name is common enough it’s been hard to find out who she is.”
“You think Pankov’s men are with him?”
Hillenbrand’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t spare him another glance. “How the fuck do I know? They weren’t reported as being seen.”
“What if . . .” Rayford cleared his throat, wondering if he’d been a fool to get involved in all this. Everything had seemed so clear at the outset. Even after the bombing of the Nelson fund-raiser, he’d still been sure of his decision. Now it felt as if he was getting his hands too dirty. For a man who’d spent his life avoiding scandal of any kind, this was making him edgy. Not to mention that they’d pissed off four very trained and deadly men—men who’d killed or done something to the hitters Hillenbrand had sent after them. “What if he does get brought in alive? Him or the others? What if they’re able to prove they weren’t involved with the bombing at the Garden? Or what if—”
“Enough,” Hillenbrand gritted out. “If that happens I have a backup plan.”
Rayford blinked. “Backup plan?”
Hillenbrand let out an exasperated sigh, then jerked his head in the direction of the door. They were still in the entertainment room of his townhome. Rayford followed him, stopping when Hillenbrand did. Hillenbrand glanced over at Gary, who was still typing away like a man possessed. Rayford doubted the guy was even aware of them at this point, but he guessed Hillenbrand didn’t want to disturb the hacker.
“Our DEA contact is our fall guy if things go south, so stop worrying. I picked him for a reason.”
“Seriously?” He couldn’t even hide his surprise.
Hillenbrand gave a sharp nod, as if annoyed at being questioned. “He’s disgruntled and I have proof that he’s taken kickbacks before. He was such an easy mark. That’s how I knew to approach him in the first place. He’s already gotten his hands dirty before and he had issues with Southers. Not exactly public knowledge, but his beef with Southers was known enough within the right circles at the DEA. He’s the perfect scapegoat if we need one.”
Some of Rayford’s fear eased, but if the DEA agent took the fall for setting up the others, it would screw up their ultimate plan of blaming the Shia terrorist group and starting another war in the Middle East. Now that the goal was finally within reach, he wanted it too bad. Wanted all the money he’d make with Hillenbrand’s contracts and the power his own boss would gain. Eventually he planned to tell his boss what he’d done, but Rayford needed to give him deniability for now. “What about our end game?”
“We”—he nodded in Gary’s direction—“have already linked him to the same group we linked the others to. It’ll look like he wanted to implicate four innocent men he worked with but still make sure his terrorist organization took the credit. So we still get what we want in the end.”
The Iran-based Shias would be blamed and Hillenbrand and Rayford’s candidate for president could start a war—as soon as he took office, of course. Rayford nodded, breathing easier. It bothered him that Hillenbrand was just telling him this now. If the other man could set up his own contact, who was to say he wouldn’t try to set up Rayford? But that wouldn’t make sense, not when Rayford was linked to the next potential president. And not when Rayford was indirectly linked to Hillenbrand’s own company.
Even so, Rayford realized he needed to pay attention to everything now, to have a backup plan of his own. Damn it, he needed dirt on Hillenbrand. Dirt completely unconnected to the drone theft and subsequent bombing. Something not connected to him; something he could use against the guy if he ever got backed against a wall. Shelving those thoughts for now, he had started to respond when Gary called out.
“Got him!” His tone was smug as he linked the screen from his laptop to the screen on the wall. “I’m not sure how long he’ll have that phone, but that’s where he is at this moment.”
Hillenbrand was already on one of his own burner phones, calling someone. The tone of the conversation made it clear the man on the other end was a hired mercenary. Rayford knew the guy had men like that on his payroll—clearly, since he’d sent a team after Pankov and his men—but it still made him uncomfortable knowing Hillenbrand had resources like that at his disposal.
When Hillenbrand hung up, his grin was like the Cheshire Cat’s. That hint of madness was back, just a glint in his eyes that made Rayford want to finish the rest of the scotch bottle in one sitting. He kept his emotions locked down, though. Hillenbrand couldn’t even have a hint that Rayford was uncomfortable around him. He just needed to remain calm and ride this thing out. In the end they’d all get what they wanted: money and power.
“So?” he asked, eyebrows raised when his partner didn’t say anything.
Hillenbrand’s eyes gleamed just a bit brighter as he said, “I’ve got guys stationed all over the city and someone on Pankov and the woman now. My contact’s only a block away from them. Going to kill the woman too just in case.”
? ? ?
Tucker handed the phone he’d been using to Karen. “Go ahead and call Burkhart now. He’ll have heard from the locals that you’ve been spotted. If your people are as good as I think, they’ll have tagged our location by now anyway.”
Her lips pulled up a fraction and he wished he could see her smile for real. She was already so beautiful, he knew she’d be even more stunning when she smiled. Not that he should be noticing that anyway. There was no way in hell he’d ever have a chance with her, especially not after he’d kidnapped her by way of meeting. “If they haven’t yet, they will soon. There are just too many ways to track us now that we’re in D.C. I promise Wesley will give you a fair shot. He’ll be annoyed it’s just you and not your team, but— What’s that guy doing?”
Tucker was pulling through a four-way stop when an SUV’s engine suddenly gunned before barreling at them. Cursing, he pressed on the accelerator, trying to get out of the way. He zoomed through the intersection, but the SUV clipped the back bumper of the truck.